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SOME ACCOMPLISHMENTS
OF THE COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE
FROM THE EARLY 1920S TO 1975
A collection of summaries
Prepared by L. E. Card, professor emeritus
August, 1978
College of Agriculture
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
UNIVERSITY OF
ILLINOIS LIBRARY
AT URBANA CHAMPAIGN
BOOKSTACKS
s> n FOREWORD ^ ' ' C
Cap 3
This publication includes brief summaries of various activities of the College
of Agriculture from the early 1920' s to about 1975. They were prepared by Professor
Leslie E. Card, who was head of the Department of Animal Science at the time of his
retirement in 1960. The articles were written in 1975, 1974, and 1975.
Most of the subjects were suggested by representatives of the different units of
the College of Agriculture as examples of major developments in their areas during
the last half century. These of course were not the only important achievements of
the College during that time. Some subjects were not included because they were ade-
quately reported in other accessible places, others because they presented difficul-
ties in getting the basic information needed from which to prepare a summary. The
reports given here, however, can be a valuable guide to much of the work of the Col-
lege during that period and may serve as a starting point for someone who wants to
explore a particular area.
The articles were reviewed and edited in 1978, by A.W. Janes, head of the Office
of Publications, but remain essentially as Dr. Card wrote them approximately four
years ago. Some articles could have been revised to bring in more recent informa-
tion, but the gain would have been small for the effort expended. When we consider
how the work of the College of Agriculture continually unfolds, a revision would be
out of date again in a short time.
The articles appear in the alphabetical order of their titles. The reader will
need to use both the list of titles and the subject index to locate articles of in-
terest. The index was prepared by Jean Koch and Sarojini Balachandran of the Uni-
versity of Illinois Library.
I am grateful to Dr. Card for contributing to our understanding of our heritage
in the College of Agriculture.
August, 1978 O.G. Bentley, Dean
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
Advisory Committees in Agriculture 1
Agricultural Experiment Station 3
Agricultural Outlook Information 5
Agriculture Library 6
Agronomy Research Centers 7
Allowable Loads for Anchor Bolts in Concrete 9
Amino Acid Requirements of Swine and Poultry 10
Anaplasmosis 13
Antibiotic Drugs and Their Residues 14
Antibiotic Research 15
Beef Performance Testing 17
Beneficial Soil Fungi--the Endogones 19
Blanching Vegetables Before Freezing 20
Botulism Poisoning Protection .21
Bound Water Determination by NMR 22
Chemical Composition of the Adult Human Body 23
Coccidian Parasite Literature. 24
Concrete Wall Panels 25
Control of Estrus and Ovulation in Ewes by the Use of Implants 26
Control of Ovulation Time in Sheep and Swine 27
Controlled Atmosphere for Storage of Vegetables 28
Controlled Feeding as a Technique in Animal Experimentation 30
Cooperative Extension Service 31
Corn Breeding. 41
Costs of Transferring Farm Property by Inheritance 42
Cottonwood Genetics 44
Crop Yields—Variability in Illinois Counties 46
Dairy Herd Improvement 47
Degree Days for Predicting Crop Development 49
Dixon Springs Agricultural Center 50
Double Mating Used to Determine Optimum Time for Insemination 52
Durability of Fence Posts 53
Economics of Machinery Choice in Corn Production 54
Embryo Survival in Pigs 55
European Corn Borers in Illinois 56
Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program 57
Factorial Methods of Estimating Nutrient Requirements 58
Farm and Home Week 59
Farm Business Farm Management Association 60
Farm Cost Accounting 62
Farm Income Tax Schools 66
Farm Leasing Practices 68
Fat-Corrected Milk 70
Feeding Standards for Lambs 71
Film Packaging of Heat-Processed Orange Juice Products 72
Food Flavors Studied by Mass Spectrometry 73
4-H Club Work 74
Fruit Cracking Resistance in Tomatoes 75
Funk Award Recognition Program 76
Gene Interaction and the A-0 and H Blood-Group Systems in Pigs 77
Genetic Immunity to Apple Scab 78
Genetic Vulnerability 79
Genie Sterility in Hybrid Corn Production . .83
The H Blood-Group System and Reproduction in Pigs 85
Hardwood Bark for Packaging Bare-Root Nursery Stock 86
iii
Hardwood Bark Mulch for Roadside Slopes 87
Hay Pellets for Beef Calves 89
Hemoglobin Types and Transferrin (Beta Globulin) Types in Sheep 90
Hereditary Resistance to Disease 91
High- Pressure Preservative Treatment of Wood 94
Home Economics Extension 96
Horse Pulling Contests 98
Horses For Farm Power 99
Horticultural Uses for Hardwood Bark 100
How Milk is Made 101
Illiasco K-40 Counter 103
Illini Chrysanthemums 105
Illini Nellie 106
Illinois Beef Industry 108
Illinois Inbred Lines of Corn and Corn Hybrids 109
Illinois Soils--Being Depleted by Heavy Cropping? 110
Illinois Soils' Productivity Ill
Illinois Soil Survey 113
Immunization Against Pox in Domestic Fowl 115
International Agricultural Programs 116
Intsoy 135
Leptospirosis 137
Listerellosis in Domestic Animals 138
Livestock Waste Management Studies 139
Low-Temperature Drying and Conditioning of Shelled Corn 141
The M Blood-Group System and Survival of Suffolk and Targhee Lambs 145
The Maize Genetics Laboratory 146
McLean County System of Swine Sanitation 148
Meat for the Table 149
Meat-Type Hog Program 150
MUCIA 152
Natural History Survey Disease Research 156
Nuclear Magnetic Resonance- -NMR 158
Nutrient Levels in Illinois Soils and Crops 159
Nutrition and Climatic Stress 160
Pipeline Milking 161
Plant Nutrients Used on Crops and Pastures in Illinois 162
Red Stele Rot of Strawberries 163
Resident Instruction 164
Root Development in Contrasting Illinois Soils 173
Row Spacing for Soybeans 174
Rural Electrification in Illinois ..... 175
Slopes of Illinois Watersheds and Soil Association Areas 176
Sources of Scotch Pine for Christmas Tree Plantations 177
Southern Corn Blight 178
Soybean Cyst Nematode 179
The Soybean Story in Illinois 180
Spacing Pine Christmas Trees 183
Spoilage Problems with Wet Corn 184
Staff in 1922 . 185
Stalkage and Husklage for Wintering Beef Cattle 189
Succession of Fetuses at Parturition on the Pig 191
Super Sweet Corn 192
Sweet Corn Breeding 193
Swine Type Studies 194
Synthetic Mulches for Vegetable Crops 196
Transmissible Gastroenteritis (TGE) of Swine 197
iv
Transuterine Migration of Embryos in the Pig 198
Urbana Weather Station 199
Urea in Ruminant Nutrition 200
Vocational Agriculture Service 201
Water Adsorption Rate of Wheat Flour Related to Cake-Baking Performance .... 202
Water Losses Through Surface Runoff ... 203
Water Use by Row Crops . 204
Weed Control 206
Wheelchair Kitchens 208
Zoonoses Research Center 210
INDEX
(This index needs to be used in connection with the contents because entries that
would be identical with the contents entries are usually not repeated.)
Advisory committees in Agriculture, composition and functions of / 1
Africa, programs in / 130
Agricultural Economics Research Reports, on farm cost accounting / 63
Agricultural Experiment Station, Illinois, establishment of / 3
, publications of / 4
, purpose of / 3
Agricultural outlook / 5
Agricultural University in India / 119
Agriculture curricula, history of / 166
Anchorage systems in buildings, design of / 9
Antibiotics / 14,15
Apples, immunity from scab / 78
Beef calves, nutrients for / 89
Beef industry, trends / 108
Beef production / 149
Botulism poisoning, protection in animals against / 21
Bound water, quantitative determination by using NMR / 22
Cattle, disease in (Anaplasmosis) / 13
(leptospirosis) / 137
Cattle testing / 47
Center for Zoonoses Research, University of Illinois / 210
Chrysanthemums, breeding of / 105
Coffee rust / 80
College of Agriculture, Directory, 1922-23 / 185
Committee on Genetic Vulnerability of Major Crops, Agricultural Board of the
National Research Council / 81
vi
Corn breeding, research in / 41
Corn drying and conditioning / 141
Corn forage / 189
Corn genetics / 83
Corn hybrids / 109
Corn leaf blight, southern / 79, 178
Corn mutations in / 79
Corn production, hybrid / 83
Corn silage / 189
Corn, tests for safe storage / 143
Cottonwood genetics / 44
County Farm Bureaus, formation of / 38
Crop development, prediction of / 49
Crop yields, variability / 46
Disease in domestic animals (Listerellosis) / 138
Disease in domestic fowl (fowl pox) / 115
Disease resistance in animals / 91
Diseases of plants / 79
Dixon Springs Experiment Station, zoonoses study at / 210
Drugs, antibiotics, residue detection in animals / 14
Elm trees, diseases of / 156
Enrollment statistics, College of Agriculture / 171
Estrus, control of / 26
Extension Service / 31-40
Farm advisers / 32
Farm Bureaus, formation of / 32
Farm Business Association / 60
Farm cost accounting / 62
Farm machinery / 54
vii
Farm outlook, reports and meetings / 5
Feeding, controlled / 30
Fence posts, protection against decay / 53
Flavor in foods, study of / 73
Foreign student enrollment, College of Agriculture / 172
Fowl pox, immunization / 115
Genetic vulnerability of crops / 79
Genetics, cottonwood / 44
Grain Conditioning Conference / 141
Grain drying, management of / 141
Handicapped persons, kitchens designed for / 208
Hardwood bark, horticultural uses of / 100
Herbicides, use of / 206
Herd improvement programs / 47
Home Economics Extension, services of / 96
Horse power / 98,99
Human body, chemical composition of / 23
Husklage / 189
Hybrids, corn / 109
Illinois Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program / 57
Illinois Farmers Institute / 31
Income tax, guidance to farmers / 66
India, aid programs / 116
Inheritance taxes / 42
International programs / 116
International Soybean Programs / 135
Jordan, programs in / 132
Kitchens, arranged for wheelchair use / 208
Lambs, feeding of / 71
Vlll
Leases, agricultural / 68
Leptospirosis / 137
Library facility / 6
Listerellis / 138
Livestock waste management / 139
Maize genetics / 146
Market classes and grades for meat / 149
McLean County System / 148
Milk, fat content of / 70
, production process / 101
Milking machines / 161
Moisture absorption rate of wheat flour / 202
Morrow Plots Weather Station / 199
Mulch, bark and wood, uses of / 86
, synthetic / 196
North Central Regional Tree Improvement Committee / 177
Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) , analysis of corn / 158
, used for determination of bound water / 22
Nursery stock, packaging of / 86
Nutrition and climatic stress /160
Nutrition requirements for animals / 58
Oak trees, diseases of / 156
Ovulation, control of / 26
Oxidation ditch mixed liquor (ODML) / 139
Packaging for heat-processing orange juice products / 72
Parasites, coccidian, of rodents and ruminants, review of literature on / 24
, plant / 79
Performance testing of beef / 17
Pine trees, spacing of / 183
ix
Pipeline milking / 161
Plant composition tests / 159
Plant nutrients / 162
Plant parasites / 79
Poisoning, botulism, in animals / 21
Pork Premiere / 151
Poultry, protein requirements of / 10
Property taxes / 42
Radioactivity, detection of / 103
Research, agricultural, benefits of / 3
, federal funds of / 3
Research findings, communication of / 4
Root development, study of / 173
Rural electrification / 175
Scotch pine trees, source of / 177
Sheep, mortality, effect of blood-group systems on / 145
, productivity, effect of blood types on / 90
Soil Conservation Service / 176
Soil, fertility tests / 110, 159
, fungi / 19
, productivity / 111, 159
, research / 7
, survey in Illinois / 113
, treatments, demonstration of / 7
Southern corn blight fungus / 79, 178
Soybean cyst nematode / 179
Soybeans, genetic vulnerability of / 81
, International Soybean Program / 135
, row spacing / 174
, utilization of / 181
Stalklage / 189
Strawberries, root rot / 165
Sweet corn, breeding / 192, 193
Swine, birth order of fetuses / 191
, blood group systems / 77
, boar-testing stations and certification / 150
, demonstrations of meat -types / 150
, disease of (leptospirosis) / 137
, disease of (transmissible gastroenteritis) / 197
, embryos, transuterine migration and distribution / 198
, porcine stress syndrome (PSS) / 81
, protein requirements of / 10
, reproduction, effect of blood types on / 85
sanitation / 148
types, comparison of / 194
waste management / 139
Teacher evaluation / 170
Teaching agriculture / 165
Teaching, views on / 164
Tomatoes, crack-resistant / 75
Tree diseases / 156
Urea as a feed supplement / 200
Uttar Pradesh Agricultural University / 119
Vegetables, blanching of / 20
, effect of controlled atmosphere on storage / 28
, scalding of / 20
Wall panels, precast concrete, advantages of / 25
Waste management / 139
xi
Water runoff study / 203
Water use by row crops / 204
Weather station, Morrow Plots / 199
Wheat flour, water absorption rate / 202
Wheat rust / 80
Zoonotic disease research / 210
XII
ADVISORY COMMITTEES IN AGRICULTURE
Staff members in the College of Agriculture have long enjoyed and profited by close
contact with farm and rural people throughout the state. In the early years there
was a general advisory committee for the experiment station, and there were a few
other committees concerned with specific lines of work for which appropriations had
been made by the General Assembly. The members were selected by specified agricul-
tural societies in the state. In August, 1921, the Board of Trustees approved a plan
recommended by Dean Davenport that provided for an advisory committee in each depart-
ment. Specifically the plan stated:
1. That advisory committees be provided for the following lines of work:
soils, farm crops, animal husbandry, dairy husbandry, horticulture, flori-
culture, farm mechanics, and farm organization and management.
2. That one member be selected from each of the above advisory committees to
constitute an advisory committee for the College of Agriculture as a whole.
3. That these committees be composed of Illinois farmers recommended by the
President of the University and by the Board of Trustees from among the mem-
bers of the agricultural association or associations most representative of
the interests involved.
4. That the membership of the various committees consist of from three to five.
5. That all nominations be made anew annually. The present plan provides for
only one vacancy each year, but inasmuch as some advisory committees should
be composed of members from more than one association, it would seem wise
to institute a plan which would arouse the interest of each association at
least once every year.
6. That the head of the department with which the advisory committee is to ren-
der service be responsible for making these nominations, transmitting them
through the office of the Dean and Director at the time of recommendations
for annual appointments, and that service begin on September 1, the same as
with members of the faculty.
The first committees appointed under this plan, to serve until September 1, 1922,
were as follows:
Agronomy
Soils:
Ralph Allen, Delavan
Frank I. Mann, Gilman
A.N. Abbott, Morrison
G.F. Tullock, Rockford
Farm Crops :
Harvey J. Sconce, Sidell
Eugene Funk, Bloomington
William Webb, Joliet
Charles Rowe, Jacksonville
Harry Winter, Winona
Animal Husbandry
Joseph R. Fulkerson, Jerseyville
William S. Corsa, Whitehall
A. A. Armstrong, Camargo
A.F. Rising, Champaign
J.G. Imboden, Decatur
Dairy Husbandry
George A. Fox, Sycamore
Herman J. Schultz, Shipman
Fred Shuster, Springfield
Dr. N.W. Hepburn, Peoria
Senator Rodney B. Swift, Lake Forest
Farm Organization and Management
Frank I. Mann, Gilman
Frank H. McKelvey, Springfield
Henry H. Parke, Genoa
Charles A. Ewing, Decatur
Harvey J. Sconce, Sidell
Farm Mechanics
J.V. Stevenson, Streator
J. P. Stout, Chatham
E.L. Gillham, Edwardsville
Floriculture
Joseph Kohout, Libertyville
Albert T. Hey, Maywood
Willis N. Rudd, Morgan Park
W.J. Hembreiker, Springfield
F.L. Washburn, Bloomington
Horticulture
W.S. Perrine, Centralia
A.L. McClay, Nillview
H.M. Dunlap, Savoy
G.A. Bryant, Princeton
August Geweke, Des Plaines
The same general plan has been followed ever since,
AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION
A visitor coming to the campus for the first time might be temporarily confused if
he asked someone how to find the Agricultural Experiment Station. Some change in
viewpoint is required to think of the station as simply an organized group of re-
search workers scattered through many buildings and laboratories.
This research organization, with its field and laboratory facilities, its staff,
and its research, is under the general administration of a Director, and includes
thirteen research units: Agricultural Economics, Agricultural Engineering, Agronomy,
Animal Science, Dairy Science, Dixon Springs Agricultural Center, Entomology, Food
Science, Forestry, Horticulture, Human Resources and Family Studies, Plant Pathology,
and Veterinary Medicine Research.
The station staff numbers about 600 individuals, many of whom are on part-time
appointment while pursuing graduate study. Most of the full-time staff people hold
joint appointments and are responsible for some teaching as well as for research.
In the opening paragraph of the Experiment Station Report for the biennium 1966-
1968, Director M.B. Russell commented as follows:
The Hatch Act of 1887 marked the beginning of a national agricultural re-
search program which has catalyzed a revolution in United States agricul-
ture. Public investment in agricultural research has given a very high re-
turn to the nation, and benefits to the total society greatly exceed the
gains realized by farmers and farm families alone. Through improved tech-
nology, based on research, modern U.S. agriculture has become highly ef-
ficient. Labor productivity in food production has increased more than 400
percent since 1920, and has released 8.5 million workers from farming for
employment in other sectors of the economy. At the same time the percent-
age of disposable income expended for food has declined below 18 percent--
well under that of any other nation. In addition, exports representing
about 15 percent of our agricultural production are a major item of world
trade, and constitute a key factor in bolstering the nation's internation-
al monetary position.
Teaching was specifically mentioned both in the Morrill Act passed by Congress
in 1862 and in Illinois legislation which established the Illinois Industrial Uni-
versity (renamed the University of Illinois in 1885) , but research was not mentioned
or implied in either. Not until passage of the Hatch Act of 1887 was there legisla-
tive support for Ma department at each Land -Grant college to be known and designated
as an Agricultural Experiment Station." The Hatch Act authorized an annual alloca-
tion of $15,000 to each experiment station for the purpose of agricultural research.
The Illinois Station was established one year later, to be under the supervision of
a Board of Direction of which George E. Morrow was the first president. In 1896, the
Board of Trustees of the University terminated the existence of the Board of Direc-
tion and named Eugene Davenport Director of the Experiment Station in addition to
his existing duties as Dean of the College of Agriculture.
Federal support of agricultural research was increased in 1906 by passage of
the Adams Act providing another $15,000 annually; in 1925 by passage of the Purnell
Act providing $60,000 annually; in 1935 by passage of the Bankhead -Jones Act provid-
ing research funds according to a formula based on the distribution of rural popula-
tion; and in 1946 by the Research and Marketing Act which stressed marketing research
and provided for regional research involving two or more states. In 1955 the fore-
going acts were combined into an amended Hatch Act which retained the emphasis on
marketing research, and provided that any increases above the 1955 level must be
matched within each state by nonfederal funds. Currently, about one-third of the
total funds available for research come from federal sources.
Reporting Research Results
A major responsibility of the staff at any state experiment station is to make
research findings available to an interested public. Some results can be reported
orally at public meetings or through personal conferences and by press releases and
radio programs, but far more important is the publication of printed reports. Publi-
cations of the Illinois Station include bulletins, circulars, special publications,
station reports, soil reports, and numerous departmental series, ranging in size from
4 pages to 200 or more. The Illinois Station has a quarterly magazine, "Illinois
Research. "
In recent years, many more pages of research material have appeared in scien-
tific journals than in station publications. During the 1974-76 biennium, research
articles published by individual staff members in various scientific journals num-
bered more than 700, not counting many short abstracts. Station bulletins are often
complete reports of what was done, the research methods used, and the technical find-
ings. Circulars, which at one time were published by the Station, are now likely to
be publications in popular form of the Cooperative Extension Service, giving con-
densed summaries of research results, together with the "what, why, when, and how"
of their application under farm or other practical conditions.
By the end of 1977 the Illinois Station had published more than 750 bulletins,
and 100 soil reports, and provided the research backup for more than 1,150 circulars.
AGRICULTURAL OUTLOOK INFORMATION
What was to become a major agricultural extension project began in 1927 with the pub-
lication of a mimeographed 8-page report entitled "The Agricultural Outlook for Illi-
nois in 1927." An introductory paragraph by Dean H.W. Mumford explained that it was
the first such attempt by the College, and indicated that the statement "was based on
the best information available regarding farming and marketing conditions that are
likely to affect the production and sale of Illinois farm products in 1927." It re-
flected in part the 1927 Agricultural Outlook for the United States issued by the U.Si,
Department of Agriculture, and contained short sections on the general business sit-
uation, corn, oats, barley, wheat, hay, horses, hogs, beef cattle, dairy, sheep, poul-
try, apples, peaches, small fruits, grapes, and vegetables.
Similar reports were issued in 1928, lOpages; 1929, 24 pages; and 1930, 28 pages.
The 1929 report, except for the cover, was reproduced on paper made from cornstalks
grown in fields in Illinois.
Beginning in 1931, and continuing for ten years, the report was entitled "Agri-
cultural Outlook," and was issued in the regular Circular series, each year's issue
containing 24 to 40 pages. After 1940 the title varied, and the number of pages dropped
to 8 or 6. Sample titles were "Illinois Farm Outlook," "Wartime Livestock Outlook
for 1943," "Postwar Problems Facing Agriculture and Business," "Illinois Farm and
Home Outlook," and "What's Ahead for Illinois Farmers in 1948."
The main purpose of the outlook reports was to provide timely information that
would assist farmers in shaping their plans for the year ahead in respect to such
matters as seeding winter wheat, feeding beef cattle and sheep, and hog production.
Nearly all counties cooperated in holding district and county outlook meetings, at
which total attendance ranged from about 5,000 to as high as 12,000 in some years.
A weekly farmers' outlook and policy letter initiated during World War II has
been widely used by newspapers and radio stations throughout the state to bring sig-
nificant and timely information to the attention of farmers at frequent intervals.
Staff members who carried major responsibility for the outlook project up to 1975 in-
clude H.C.M. Case, R.R. Hudelson, P.E. Johnston, L.J. Norton, E.M. Hughes, L.F. Stice,
and L.H. Simerl . Extension specialists from other departments have assisted with
district and county meetings.
AGRICULTURE LIBRARY
No library facilities were specifically assigned to agriculture until 1912, when a
reading room for students was opened in Room 127 of what is now Davenport Hall. The
collection consisted of a few books, experiment station publications, and farm papers.
No librarian was provided, and the students managed the room and the publications for
themselves. Two years later the university library cooperated by transferring sever-
al hundred volumes of agricultural books from the general library. Other library
books that had been shelved in departmental offices of the College of Agriculture
were brought together and added to this collection.
The first professional librarian to be placed in charge was George A. Deveneau,
appointed November 26, 1915, as Library Assistant in Agriculture. A study room for
upperclassmen and faculty was added in 1917. Following the resignation of Mr. Deve-
neau, Mary G. Burwash, who had been in the cataloguing division of the general li-
brary, was transferred to the Agriculture Library on October 1, 1918. She held the
position until shortly before her death in January, 1948.
In 1924 the library was moved to the south end of the second floor of Mumford
Hall (at that time called New Agriculture Building). The collection then consisted
of about 20,000 volumes. With construction of additional stack space, and expansion
into two rooms on the first floor, the total capacity was increased to about 80,000
volumes.
On June 1, 1948, D.A. Brown was named Agriculture Librarian and served until his
retirement on September 1, 1972. He was succeeded on August 21, 1973, by John W.
Beecher.
AGRONOMY RESEARCH CENTERS
In addition to the Morrow Plots and the extensive research work under way on the
Agronomy South Farm at Urbana, the Agronomy Department operates five research centers
located at DeKalb, Elwood, Brownstown, Carbondale, and Dixon Springs. Soil and crop
research is also being conducted at six other locations where facilities are less ex-
tensive and less well developed. Designated as research fields, these are located at
Dixon, Aledo, Kewanee, Carthage, Hartsburg, and Toledo.
This program represents a significant change from earlier years when as many as
50 soil experiment fields were being operated in 43 different counties. A natural
question is "Why so many fields?"; and a related one, "If 50 fields then, why no more
than 12 now?" One answer to the first question is found in the wide variation in
soils within the state. Experiments conducted on the black prairie soils of central
Illinois cannot provide the information needed for the proper treatment of the light-
colored claypan soils of southern Illinois, or for the unique younger soils in the
northeastern part of the state.
Another important reason for having experiment fields in various parts of the
state is the wide variation in climate. Average annual precipitation in much of
northern Illinois is only 30 inches, while the average at Anna in Union County is
nearly 48 inches. Differences in extremes are much greater. Pontiac had only 16
inches in 1887, and Carbondale had 74 inches as recently as 1945. Similarly, the
number of frost- free days per year varies from about 160 in northern Illinois to
over 200 in the south end of the state.
In the early years, before the automobile and paved roads, more fields at widely
scattered locations were needed so that farmers might visit them easily and see the
results of various soil treatments and variety trials. Demonstrations have provided
one of the most important benefits derived from the fields. The number of visitors
sometimes exceeds 5,000 annually at a single field.
All of the early fields were established through the interest and cooperation
of the local people. A few fields were donated by their owners: the Carlinville
field was donated by Blackburn College, and the Elizabethtown field was given by R.A.
Ledbetter. Several were made available on the basis of long-term leases. But most
were purchased by funds donated in small amounts by 100 or more individuals in the
area, and deeded to the university.
As an example of procedures followed in the early years , the following account
of the field at Fairfield in Wayne County, established in 1905 and discontinued in
1923, is taken from Bulletin 273, "The Illinois Soil Experiment Fields."
Location. About one mile northwest of Fairfield on the Rinard and Porter farms.
The E. 1/2 of the W. 1/2 of the N.W. 1/4 and the W. 1/2 of the W. 1/2 of the
N.E. 1/4, all in Sec. 36, Twp. 1 S., R. 7 E. of the 3d P.M.
Description. The field consisted of 40 acres of light-colored upland soil of
strong acidity. The soil was described as the typical prairie soil of southern
Illinois and probably consisted of Gray silt loam on Tight Clay. The land was
practically level. Half of it was tile-drained, but due to the impervious nature
of the subsoil, drainage over all of the field was rather poor. The field was
divided into four series of 36 fifth-acre plots. Each series was further divid-
ed into two parts; one containing the plots numbered 1 to 18, and the other from
21 to 38.
History. The Fairfield field was leased from Mr. John Rinard and Mr. G. Porter.
As far as is known, the land had not previously received fertilizer treatment of
any kind.
Cropping and Soil Treatment. The Fairfield field was used primarily for the in-
vestigation of crop problems. A uniform rotation, however, was practiced on the
field, and certain plots were maintained with various soil treatments. The ro-
tation originally practiced was corn, cowpeas, wheat, and clover on both tiled
and untiled land. During the later years it was changed to corn, soybeans,
wheat, and sweet clover. All plots ending in the numbers 3, 6 and 9 were han-
dled as grain system plots, and received crop residues. All plots ending in
numbers 10, 13, and 16, or 30, 33, and 36 were handled as livestock plots and
received farm manure. All plots except those ending in numbers 9 and 0 received
applications of limestone and rock phosphate.
In addition to the above described soil treatments, potassium compounds were ap-
plied in two forms; namely, kainit and sulfate. These materials were applied
lengthwise of all series in such a manner that a 4-rod strip in the middle re-
ceived kainit at an annual acre rate of 150 pounds, and a 2-rod strip on either
side of the kainit received potassium sulfate at the annual acre rate of 50
pounds. These treatments continued from 1907 to 1915.
Current research at the centers is directed toward two major objectives: learn-
ing more about the soils, crops, and environment as a long-time continuing effort,
and solving current agronomic problems. Applied research at the centers therefore
takes many forms. Evaluating fertilizers in terms of what to use and how much is a
continuing process as new varieties and new cropping practices are developed. Many
production factors, such as planting dates, seeding rates, distance between rows, and
planting patterns, are constantly being studied and evaluated, especially as they in-
teract with one another, and as they relate to the efficient production of needed
food, feed, and fiber.
ALLOWABLE LOADS FOR ANCHOR BOLTS IN CONCRETE
Buildings are commonly held to their foundations by some sort of bolt or anchor that
is embedded in the concrete of the foundation. Such anchorages are normally subject
to two types of load: tensile and shear. A tensile load tends to pull the bolt ver-
tically from the surface of the foundation; whereas a shear load is exerted perpen-
dicular to the length of the bolt.
To do an effective and accurate job of designing anchorage systems, one must
know the strength of the bolt with respect to each type of load, and also the
strength of the connection between the bolt and the concrete. Information on the
strength of bolts has long been available, but information on the strength of the
connection between bolt and concrete has been sketchy. J.O. Curtis and L.D. Nagreski
in the Department of Agricultural Engineering conducted a series of tests to estab-
lish safe allowable loads for steel anchor bolts of 1/2 inch, 5/8 inch, and 3/4 inch
diameter under various conditions of embedment in concrete.
Size of bolt does not affect the strength of the connection, but unless the
bolt will withstand as much load as the connection, it will break before the connec-
tion fails. Half-inch bolts will support tensile loads up to about 3,300 pounds, 5/8-
inch bolts 6,200 pounds, and 3/4-inch bolts 9,500 pounds.
Using a safety factor of 2 , it was found that allowable tensile loads increased
from about 3,500 pounds for 3-inch embedment in concrete, to nearly double that load
if embedded 4 inches. Allowable shear loads were 1,000 pounds if embedded 3 or more
inches and 2 inches from the loaded edge, and about 1,800 pounds if embedded 3 inches
from the loaded edge.
AMINO ACID REQUIREMENTS OF SWINE AND POULTRY
Early research on the protein requirements of the chick, the young pig, and labora-
tory animals such as the white rat was crude by comparison with current methods, but
did result in determining the approximate protein levels needed for growth. Require-
ments were expressed as the percentage of protein in the ration, using Kjeldahl N x
6.25 as the measure of protein.
Later, after W.C. Rose and associates had established the relative importance
of certain amino acids in the diet as precursors of body protein, investigators were
able to assess the value of various protein mixtures in terms of their content of
specific amino acids. Even so, amino acid analysis was a long and tedious process.
Not until it became possible to synthesize individual amino acids at a cost which
permitted their inclusion in pure form in the diets of young animals could research-
ers begin to assess nutritional requirements with accuracy.
At a symposium on protein nutrition and metabolism, held at the University of
Illinois in October, 1963, Richard H. Barnes, then dean of the Graduate School of
Nutrition at Cornell University, said:
"I am certain that no institution in the world can surpass the extensive studies of
nutritional interrelationships in different animal species that have been conducted
on the campus of the University of Illinois. . .Up to 1932 many amino acids had been
identified, but only tryptophane, lysine, histidine, and either methionine, cystine,
or both had been shown to be indispensable for the growing rat. The major break-
through in establishing the amino acid requirements of animals came in 1935 when
McCoy, Meyer, and Rose published another in their series of papers on feeding ex-
periments with mixtures of highly purified amino acids, in which they discussed the
"isolation and identification of a new essential amino acid." The amino acid was,
of course, threonine, and for the first time a relatively good growth rate was ob-
tained in rats fed amino acids but no protein. . .Since the breakthrough in 1935 when
threonine was isolated and identified, many laboratories have engaged in studies with
rats, man, and other animal species, using pure amino acid mixtures in the diet. Rat
studies have been particularly extensive. A major portion of this work has been done
at the University of Illinois."
H.M. Scott and associates (W.A. Glista, W.F. Dean, R.L. Huston, J.G. Klain, S.P,
Netke, R.E. Smith, D.H. Baker, R.A. Zimmerman) tackled the problem of establishing
a standard reference diet, composed of crystalline amino acids plus corn oil, corn
starch, vitamins, and minerals, that would enable the young chick to grow fully as
well as when fed a corn-soybean diet. Eventually they were able to formulate such a
diet that not only promoted excellent growth but also resulted in much improved ef-
ficiency of gain.
Initially, amino-acid adequacy of the diets used was measured by daily nitrogen
balance in the chick. The diet, in the form of tablets, was force-fed six times a
day. When a particular amino acid was under study, it was omitted from the tablets
and administered in solution, by syringe, at each feeding. The dose received by each
chick could thus be varied as desired, using levels above and below the estimated
10
requirement level. The reference standard diet, as developed and used for four years
prior to 1972, was as follows:
L-arginine, HC1
1.21
L-histidine, HC1.H 0
L-lysine, HC1
0.41
1.19
L-tyrosine
0.45
L-tryptophan
0.15
L-phenyl alanine
0.50
DL-methionine
0.35
L-cystine
0.35
L-threonine
0.65
L-leucine
1.20
L-isoleucine
0.60
L-valine
0.82
Glycine
1.20
L-proline
0.20
L-glutamic acid
10.00
Corn oil
15.00
Salt mixture
5.37
Cellulose
3.00
NaHC03
Choline chloride
1.00
0.20
Vitamins
+
Ethoxyquin (125 mg./kg.)
+
Corn starch
56.15
100.00
This diet has been used to study quantitative amino acid interrelationships, as
well as requirements under various environmental and dietary conditions. Also, it
has become a standard reference diet for studies of amino acid availability in foods
and feeds, and for vitamin and mineral requirement assays.
Since it is not economically feasible to feed swine on rations which contain a
protein fraction made up entirely of crystalline amino acids, the practical approach
has been to use corn-soybean mixtures analyzed for amino acid content, and to supple-
ment these with varied levels of amino acids in order to determine the minimum level
for satisfactory performance. This procedure enabled D.E. Becker and co-workers (D.H.
Baker, A.H. Jensen, B.G. Harmon) to arrive at recommended amino acid allowances for
growing and finishing swine as a percentage of the ration.
Arginine
Histidine
Isoleucine
Leucine
Lysine
Methionine
Phenylalanine
Threonine
Tryptophan
Valine
A slightly different approach was taken by D.H. Baker and R.H. Rippel in estab-
lishing the requirements for gestation and lactation in the sow, because hand feeding
Starter,
Gi
•ower ,
Finisher,
10-30 lb.
30-
•120 lb.
130 lb. to market wt.
.37
.25
.15
.34
.23
.14
.76
.52
.35
.84
.67
.40
.86
.74
.55
.73
.50
.30
.79
.54
.32
.66
.45
.27
.18
.12
.07
.67
.46
.28
11
rather than ad libitum feeding is commonly practiced under commercial conditions.
Experimental studies extending over about ten years prior to 1970 established the
fact that a pregnant gilt or sow required only about half the daily protein intake
that was considered standard in 1960. This led to expressing the amino acid require-
ments on the basis of grams per head per day instead of as a percentage of the ration
Gestatior
i,
Lactation,
feed intake
feed intake
2 kg. dai
iy
4 kg. daily
grams
per
head per day
Arginine
6.8
13.6
Histidine
3.1
10.4
Isoleucine
6.7
26.8
Leucine
10.2
39.6
Lysine
7.6
32.4
Methionine and systine
5.2
14.4
Phenylalanine and tyrosine
12.4
40.0
Threonine
6.3
20.4
Tryptophan
1.3
5.2
Valine
8.4
27.2
12
ANAPLASMOSIS
Anaplasmosis is an infectious and transmissible disease of cattle manifested by pro-
gressive anemia associated with the presence of erythrocytic bodies designated as
Anaplasma marginale. It is fairly widespread in the United States and has been rec-
ognized in 40 of the 50 states.
Studies of Anaplasma made by Miodrag Ristic of the College of Veterinary Medi-
cine and the Experiment Station indicate that it occupies a position intermediate
between the smallest bacteria and the filtrable viruses and suggest that some of its
biologic properties, such as relative resistance to heat and to destruction by sonic
oscillation, may be due to a protective envelope observed when Initial anaplasmal bod-
ies are examined under an electron miscroscope.
Among the more important vectors are horseflies, stable flies, horn flies, mos-
quitos, lice, and several species of ticks.
A live vaccine developed by Dr. Ristic has been used successfully in Mexico and
several other Latin American countries to produce immunity in cattle, but by 1973
still had not been approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for use in the
United States.
A detailed report on the nature of Anaplasma was made by Dr. Ristic in Advances
in Veterinary Science, 6:111-192 (1960).
13
ANTIBIOTIC DRUGS AND THEIR RESIDUES
By the ear'y 1970' s more than half of the antibiotics produced in the United States
were used for agricultural purposes, and nearly 80 percent of the meat and meat prod-
ucts produced were derived from animals that have received drugs which require with-
drawal times. Those most commonly used in animal production included streptomycin,
dehydrostreptomycin, neomysin, tylosin, novobiocin, oleandomycin, bacitracin, ery-
thromycin, spiramycin, polymyxin B, various forms of penicillin and tetracyclines,
and numerous combinations thereof . in 1971 usage, metabolic and excretion patterns,
untoward effects, and related hazards were summarized by William G. Huber of the
College of Veterinary Medicine and the Experiment Station in Advances in Veterinary
Science and Comparative Medicine, 15; 101-132.
The prevalence of antibacterial drug residues in animals at time of slaughter
was determined for more than 5,000 animals in 1969. Tissues, urine, or feces were
collected from swine, sheep, veal calves, beef cattle, and poultry which are subject-
ed to federal or state meat inspection at slaughterhouses in the Midwest. A micro-
biologic Bacillus suhtilis disc-assay method was used to screen for the presence of
antibacterial substances and the disc-assay method for fluid milk was modified to
test urine, feces, and tissues.
Of eight groups of swine totaling 1,381 animals, 27 percent had antibacterial
substances of which 10 percent had penicillin residues. Beef cattle had the lowest
prevalence of antibiotic residues among the domestic animals tested; of five groups
totaling 580 animals, 9 percent gave positive findings, and of those 2 percent were
found to have penicillin.
Urine samples from six groups of veal calves totaling 788 animals, showed 17
percent to have antibacterial residues, of which 7 percent gave penicillinase posi-
tive tests. Of four groups of 328 market lambs, 21 percent contained antibacterial
substances, and 4 percent were positive for penicillin residues. Among four groups
of chickens totaling 798 laying hens and 128 broilers, 20 percent were found to have
antibacterial substances, with 6 percent positive for penicillin.
The wide variation in the prevalence of residues among different species sug-
gests that livestock producers in general use antibiotics wisely and comply with the
legal withdrawal times, but that some others do not. Many violators are not appre-
hended because available residue detection procedures are not applied; nor are the
results followed up by state and federal meat inspection services.
The prevalence of antibiotic residues in tissues and body fluids of domestic
animals exceeds that reported for milk in the United States during the 1950's before
a successful milk-monitoring program was established. Since then, the prevalence of
antibiotic-adulterated milk has dropped from 11 percent to less than 0.5 percent.
14
ANTIBIOTIC RESEARCH
Antibiotic research at the Illinois Station began in 1942 under a cooperative program
which provided financial support from four pharmaceutical companies --Abbott Laborato-
ries, Eli Lilly £, Company, Parke Davis § Company, and the Upjohn Company. At first
the chemical and biochemical studies were under the direction of H.E. Carter in the
Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering. The biological phase was started
under H.W. Anderson, plant pathologist in the Department of Horticulture, later to be
joined by H.H. Thornberry. In 1946, the responsibility for this work was shifted to
David Gottlieb, and support came from the National Science Foundation and the Nation-
al Institutes of Health. When the Department of Plant Pathology was established in
1955, antibiotic research and the personnel connected with it were transferred to the
new department.
Early studies were concerned with methods of improving the yields of streptomy-
cin and the biochemistry of the fermentation involved in its production. Later the
emphasis shifted to a search for new antibiotics. Those found included chlorampheni-
col (1948), endomycin (1951), levomycin (1945), filipin (1955), and tetrin (1960).
All but chloramphenicol are antifungal agents.
A long series of studies was carried out on the biosynthesis of chloramphenicol.
Later studies, some of which are still under way, concerned the mode of action of os-
con, filipin, tetrin, patulim, flavensomycin, griseofulvin, pyrrolnitrin, and a syn-
thetic compound, thiobendazole.
As early as 1946, H.W. Anderson and I. Nienow had shown that streptomycin could
be absorbed by the roots of wheat and soybean plants and could then move through the
rest of the plant. Other direct applications of antibiotics in the control of plant
diseases were undertaken later with actidione, vancomycin, endomycin, and filipin.
The toxicities of these compounds in plants were determined, but only partial control
of certain diseases was obtained.
Another phase of the research dealt with the role of antibiotics in soil. It was
long believed that antibiotics were produced naturally in soil, and were important in
controlling the soil microflora because of differential effects on these microbes.
Intensive studies failed to support this concept for streptomycin, aureomycin, terra-
mycin, cycloheximide clavacin, glutoxin, Chloromycetin, and others. They were never
found in normal soil in the field, or when untreated soils were infested by laborato-
ry procedures. An antibiotic was sometimes found, however, after the organism which
produced it in culture had been placed in soil which had been sterilized or to which
various nutrients had been added at high concentrations.
The synthesis of antibiotics in amounts sufficient to be effective in controlling
other organisms is apparently a phenomenon that occurs only under unusual laboratory
conditions. This has important implications with respect to patent applications, be-
cause if antibiotic production were a "natural phenomenon" these chemicals could not
be patented. Furthermore, it would not be reasonable to expect to control soil-borne
diseases by incorporating such antibiotic-producing organisms into the soil.
The technique might be effective, however, if high levels of the proper nutrients
were incorporated into the soil, and if cultural practices were modified to promote
15
the production of the antibiotic in amounts sufficiently high to overcome the inacti-
vation rates resulting from adsorption, chemical reactions, and microbiological deg-
radation in the soil.
Because of the importance of Streptomyoes sp. in the production of various anti-
biotics, a reliable means was needed for their identification. National and interna-
tional cooperative research programs were organized to redescribe all type species.
The Department of Plant Pathology at the University of Illinois was the center of this
effort, not only in leadership and organization but also in evolving research tech-
niques suited to the purpose. As far as is known, this project was the first such
cooperative effort and served as a model for others.
16
BEEF PERFORMANCE TESTING
Beef performance testing is an example of an extension program that was conceived
before the industry was ready for it but illustrates the importance of forward
planning in enabling extension personnel to render maximum service to their clien-
tele.
The program was started in 1955 when the first herd to be evaluated was owned
by Glenn Brown of Athens, Illinois. It grew slowly until at the end of ten years
about 6,500 calves were being weighed and graded, and about 1,000 yearling records
were being collected annually. In recent years the owners of purebred beef cat-
tle have become more conscious of the value of performance records, and hence are
much more receptive to the program than they were even in 1965. The herd owner,
the county extension adviser, the area livestock adviser, and the state livestock
specialists are all involved in the several phases of the program. About 500
herd owners are actively participating, with over 14,000 calf records and about
2,000 yearling records being processed annually.
WEANING-TIME PHASE
This is the first part of the Illinois BPT program. Each calf must be weighed
individually and its weight recorded on the proper work sheet. It is recommended
that all calves be weighed at about seven months of age, but weights made between
150 and 270 days of age will be adjusted to an estimated 205-day weight.
All calves are evaluated when they are weighed, preferably by a three-man
committee, giving major emphasis to body type and muscling. Feeder calf grade
is optional. Evaluation scores and the grades, if used, are forwarded to Urbana
along with a processing fee.
POST-WEANING PHASE
Weaned calves are group-fed for at least 140 days in order to test their abil-
ity to gain. They do not have to be full-fed, but all should receive the same
ration. The test period starts on the date the weaning weights are obtained and
ends at least 140 days later, when the animals are nearing one year of age. Of-
ficial 365-day/weights and weight ratios are calculated only for animals that are at
least 330 days old and have been on test at least 140 days.
At the end of the post-weaning period, all animals are weighed and evaluated
as before, preferably by a three-man committee. Again, the evaluation scores
and the grades, if used, are forwarded to Urbana, with a processing fee.
CARCASS EVALUATION PHASE
Weaning weights, evaluation scores, and post-weaning performance may all be
satisfactory but it is also important to know how well a herd measures up in pro-
ducing trim, meaty, high-grading carcasses at normal market weight. Carcass
evaluation of the progeny is also a good measure of sire performance, and it is
recommended that such a record be made of each sire's first calf crop.
17
The recommended procedure is to select eight to twelve cattle for slaughter-
steers weighing at least 975 pounds and heifers at least 875 pounds--with enough
finish to grade Choice. The spread in slaughter weights for a group of either
steers or heifers should be less than 100 pounds. No more than half of the test
group should be heifers.
The simplest way to obtain complete and accurate carcass data is to make use
of the federal grading service. Detailed directions for accomplishing this are
given in Illinois Extension Circular 1081.
18
BENEFICIAL SOIL FUNGI--THE ENDOGONES
Fungi of the genus Endogone long went undetected in Illinois soils, but they are now
known to be abundant. Instead of being harmful or pathogenic as are so many other
fungi, the endogones are beneficial, and by infecting plant roots increase the abil-
ity of the plant to absorb nutrients from the soil. These fungi were not found ear-
lier because they will not grow on laboratory media and therefore cannot be isolated
by the usual methods.
When an endogone infects a root, it produces a structure composed of root and
fungus tissue called a mycorrhiza. It is the mycorrhiza that in some way not yet
well understood increases the ability of the plant to absorb nutrients from the soil.
Oddly enough, the greatest benefits occur in soils that are relatively infertile, and
in such soils the mycorrhizal plants are able to make much better growth than nonmy-
corrhizal plants.
A different kind of mycorrhiza that forms on pine and beech trees has been known
and studied for many years. Here also, the fungi absorb nutrients from the soil and
release some of them to the roots so that the mycorrhizal tree grows much better than
one that is not infected.
Each species of endogone has a very wide range of host plants on which it will
grow, so that a single species can infect such diverse plants as corn, onions, red
clover, strawberries, and tulip trees. Endogone spores are larger than those produced
by any other type of fungus, and contain oil droplets that probably serve as stored
food for the fungus.
19
BLANCHING VEGETABLES BEFORE FREEZING
Although blanching or scalding of vegetables before freezing has been recommended
since the early 1930' s, the comment is often heard that this procedure is unnecessary
when vegetables are prepared for freezing under home conditions. Frances Van Duyne
and Virginia Charles in the Department of Home Economics undertook to find out what
actually happens to vegetables that are frozen without prior blanching. They com-
pared freshly harvested broccoli, corn, peas, snap beans, and spinach, processed with
and without blanching and retained in the freezer for 1, 3, 6, and 9 months before
testing samples for ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) content and submitting other samples to
a taste test.
Except for broccoli that had been stored only 1 month, all samples that had been
blanched before freezing contained more ascorbic acid than did those unblanched. Dif-
ferences were especially significant after 6 months.
General acceptability of vegetables frozen without blanching, as determined by
the taste panels, was uniformly low even after 1 month of storage. After 3 months,
frozen unblanched peas were faded in color and snap beans were slightly gray. Broc-
coli was rather tough in texture and strong in flavor. Further deterioration occurred
with longer storage, and haylike flavors developed. Several samples were considered
inedible. Unblanched corn, although retaining its color, developed a disagreeable
flavor after 6 months.
Blanching of vegetables before freezing is therefore important, both to keep
them palatable and to retain as much as possible of the original content of vitamin C.
An added advantage of blanching is that it softens the vegetables enough to permit
them to be packed more easily and solidly into freezer containers.
20
BOTULISM POISONING PROTECTION
In 1927, Robert Graham and co-workers were successful for the first time in pro-
tecting horses against botulism, or forage poisoning, by the use of botulism toxin
which they had detoxified by the use of formalin. There are three types of botu-
lism poisoning, designated as A, B, and C, and this makes the problem difficult,
because an antitoxin of one type has no effect whatever against the other two. What
was needed, therefore, was a polyvalent serum containing antitoxins for all three
types.
Varying amounts of formalin, from 0.5 to 0.9 percent, were added to Clostridium
botulinum cultures and culture filtrates A, B, and C. The formalized toxins were
then incubated for varying lengths of time at 37° to 42°C, after which they were
tested for toxicity by injecting 1 cc. to 3 cc. subcutaneous ly into guinea pigs and
other animals. Ten days later some of the guinea pigs, along with untreated control
animals, were given 5 to 10 lethal doses of unaltered toxin by subcutaneous injec-
tion. A single injection of B and C toxoids provided adequate protection. Larger
doses (5 cc.) of C toxoid provided protection in quarter- and half-grown chickens.
Type A toxin was apparently not completely detoxified as rapidly as were B and C,
but the reasons are not clear. Horses and mules were not protected by single in-
jections of 20 to 30 cc. of toxoids A, B, and C, but two injections a week apart did
protect against the unaltered toxins.
Protective amounts of combined botulinum toxoids A, B, and C were later admini-
stered to horses and fowls in natural outbreaks of food poisoning in the field with
apparently good results, though no animals were left as untreated controls. When
the formalized toxin was treated with ammonium hydroxid after complete detoxifica-
tion, its immunizing or antigenic value was retained for a minimum of six months
under refrigeration. Unrefrigerated, the immunizing property was lost in a few weeks
21
BOUND WATER DETERMINATION BY NMR
It has long been known that more energy is required to remove the final portion of
water from a given material, such as flour or corn starch, than is required to drive
off the initial moisture. This final portion, commonly called bound water, is so
closely united with other compounds that it remains liquid at low temperatures and
is therefore often referred to as water that does not freeze. Little is known about
its relation to food quality because it has been difficult to determine quantitatively!
and estimations are at best rather inaccurate.
M.P. Steinberg and associates in the Department of Food Science developed a
technique for direct quantitative determination of bound water by the use of nuclear
magnetic resonance (NMR) . The hydrogen from bound water (BW) not only gives a
strong signal — in contrast to the negligible signal from the hydrogen nuclei of free
water--but within a given set of instrument parameters, the NMR signal from BW is
independent of the solid material with which the water is bound. This means that a
"universal'1 NMR calibration constant could be derived for any food product.
Using a low-protein (6.7 percent) flour obtained by conventional milling of soft
red winter wheat, doughs of varying moisture content gave consistent readings of BW
content (defined as that which remained liquid at -18° C.) amounting to 0.29 ± 0.01
gram of water per gram of dry solid. NMR signals indicated that most of the bound
water remained liquid at temperatures as low as -58° F. (-50° C). The instrument
is expensive, but the NMR signal gives a direct reading of bound water, and is ac-
curate, rapid, and nondestructive of the sample being measured.
22
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF THE ADULT HUMAN BODY
The scientific importance of information on the chemical composition of the adult hu-
man body, and the wholly unsatisfactory character of the limited information availa-
ble in 1945 led to an investigation of the subject by H.H. Mitchell and associates.
Results were reported in a series of four papers in the Journal of Biological Chemis-
try in 1945, 1953, 1954, and 1956.
Four adult human male subjects--ages 35, 46, 48, and 60 years--were analyzed for
water, ether extract, crude protein (N x 6.25), calcium, and phosphorus. For one
subject, the concentration of beryllium, boron, cobalt, and mercury in body tissues
was also determined.
Crude protein (N x 6.25) averaged 17.5 percent for the four subjects, water 61.1
percent, and ash 5.2 percent. Ether extract varied from a low of 4.3 to a high of
19.4 percent. Calcium of the whole body averaged 1.76 percent and phosphorus 0.89
percent.
23
COCCIDIAN PARASITE LITERATURE
Norman D. Levine and Virginia R. Ivens in the College of Veterinary Medicine and
the Experiment Station made an exhaustive search of the scientific literature deal-
ing with coccidian parasites of rodents and ruminants, and cited references in Ill-
inois Biological Monographs 33 and 44 published by the University of Illinois press.
The first monograph summarizes in 365 pages the known information on taxonomy,
morphology, life cycle, hosts, location in the host , pathogenicity, geographical dis-
tribution, and cross-transmission studies of the 196 named species of coccidia
in rodents. Most — actually 16--of the named species described belong to the genus
Eimevia3 even though that genus has been described from only 15 percent of the 337
genera and 4 percent of the 2,688 species of rodents.
The second monograph summarizes in 278 pages the same type of information for
the 100 named species of coccidia in ruminants. Here also, Eimevia predominate,
with 95 species. Eimevia species have been described from 20 percent of the 87 gen-
era and from 21 percent of the 188 species of ruminants.
24
CONCRETE WALL PANELS
Precast concrete wall panels have many advantages in the construction of industrial
and farm buildings. They are strong, durable, waterproof, fireproof, and verminproof.
Furthermore, they can be constructed largely of local materials at reasonable cost.
A new kind of reinforced and insulated panel was designed by J.O. Curtis and E.L. Han-
sen in the Department of Agricultural Engineering. The new panel is self-supporting
by having the lower edge placed in a notch in the footing and anchored to the edge of
the floor slab. With this arrangement, no separate foundation wall is needed and,
because foam plastic insulation is included in the panel construction, insulation can
easily be extended below the floor slab. Continuous wall insulation is also easily
achieved.
In order that they would resist normal wind, snow, and dead loads as well as the
loads incurred during construction, the panels were designed with concrete compressive
strength of 4,000 p.s.i. and yield-strength tests of steel reinforcement up to ten
times that figure. The basic panels were designed to be 4 feet wide, and 8, 10, or 12
feet high. Shorter panels can be used to provide window openings.
Careful control of the concrete mix is essential in order to obtain flawless,
uniform panels. An experimental continuous mixer was designed to meter sand and ce-
ment from a divided hopper onto a slow-moving plastic belt for discharge into an au-
ger, along with a metered amount of water. The complete mixer provided a capacity of
up to 15,000 pounds of mixed concrete per hour. The concrete is placed in the mold
in three layers. The first is about 7/8 inch deep and is vibrated with a specially
developed vibrator to remove air bubbles on the bottom surface next to the mold liner.
Vertical and horizontal reinforcing bars are then put in place, and another lay-
er of concrete follows. The 2-inch foam insulation is then put in place, and the fi-
nal section of concrete follows. The entire panel is 5 1/2 inches thick with insula-
tion or 3 1/2 inches without insulation.
25
CONTROL OF ESTRUS AND OVULATION IN EWES BY THE USE OF IMPLANTS
Implants were made by mixing 5 percent by weight of finely milled crystals of 17a-
acetoxy-6-methyl-16-methylene pregna-4,6,diene-3,20-dione (MGA) in a viscous liquid
silicone elastomer. The mixture was cured at room temperature by adding stannous
octoate, after which the cured elastomer was cut in pieces for implanting. After
sterilizing, an implant weighing 1 to 2 grams was placed under the skin of each ewe
in the woolless area of the axilla and left for 14 to 45 days. Since the MGA was
slowly absorbed, the implants were carefully removed, washed, sterilized, and reused
5 to 7 times during the experiment.
Estrous cycles were inhibited in 95 percent of the 361 ewes receiving implants,
and ovulation was presumed to be prevented. No special handling or feeding practices
were necessary.
In a flock of normally cycling ewes, about 1 in 16 would be expected to be in
estrus on any one day. By contrast, in these experiments 75 percent of the ewes were
in estrus between 36 and 54 hours after removal of the implants. Ewes conceived
after matings at these estrous cycles and produced lambs. Implants proved convenient
and useful for controlling estrus and ovulation, and presumbly would be useful for
applications requiring prolonged administration of steroids.
26
CONTROL OF OVULATION TIME IN SHEEP AND SWINE
A technique for predetermining the precise time of ovulation in gilts would facili-
tate certain experimental procedures and provide increased control over some aspects
of management in commercial hog production. In the case of sheep, application of
artificial insemination would be facilitated if ovulation time could be synchronized
in a group of ewes. The advantages associated with restricted lambing periods would
also be more easily achieved.
P.J. Dziuk and associates in the Department of Animal Science undertook to con-
trol the time of ovulation in gilts by treating them with an orally active progesta-
tional compound, followed by injection of a gonadotrophin. Gilts were starved for
24 hours, after which treatment lasted for 8 to 10 days by feeding a dry, ground
diet which was prepared and fed so that each gilt would ingest 500 mg. of 6-methyl-
17-acetoxyprogesterone in 6 pounds of feed each day. The gilts were then returned
to a normal diet, after which they were given an injection of human chorionic gonad-
otrophin (HCG) in 4 cc. of physiological saline either by subcutaneous, intramuscular,
or intravenous route. These injections were given to various groups of gilts after
5, 6, 7, 8, or 12 days on the normal diet. Eggs were recovered after slaughter
by flushing the reproductive tract with physiological saline solution.
Ovulation occurred about 40 hours after the injection of HCG in 94 percent of
the animals treated. Stage of development of fertilized eggs was very uniform within
groups, and was unrelated to the time of insemination, but precisely related to the
time of expected ovulation (40 hours after HCG injection).
A related finding was that heat, ovulation, and fertility can be induced in
gilts with delayed puberty by an injection of 500 I.U. of pregnant mare's serum go-
nadotrophin (PMS) when they are 9 to 12 months of age.
By the fourth or fifth day after PMS injection, 75 percent of the gilts so
treated were in heat; and those not showing heat were found to have infantile genital
tracts or had ovulated previously without heat being detected. Gilts normally reach
puberty at an average age of 7 months, at which time they weigh 90 to 115 kilograms,
though there is some normal variation, depending on genetic constitution and envi-
ronment; but puberty may be considered to be delayed if it has not occurred by the
time the gilt is 9 months of age and weighs 136 kilograms.
In the experiments with sheep, estrus was suppressed by the consistent consump-
tion of 20 mg. of methyl acetoxyprogesterone (MAP) per day for 14 days by ewes pre-
viously experiencing normal estrous cycles. With higher levels of MAP (40 to 75 mg.
per head per day), post-treatment estrus and in most cases subsequent lambings were
grouped, Futhermore, group feeding of 50 or 75 mg. per ewe daily produced results
similar to those obtained when ewes were individually fed.
MAP given at levels of 40, 60, 75, and 200 mg . per head daily inhibited heat
;ind ovulation in ewes during treatment and for at least 48 hours afterward. Ovula-
tion occurred consistently at about 25 hours after intramuscular injection of 500
KU, of HCG. Control of the time of ovulation by this means may be a useful tool in
reproductive physiology research and in practical sheep husbandry.
27
CONTROLLED ATMOSPHERE FOR STORAGE OF VEGETABLES
Respiration, which involves uptake of O2 and release of CO2, is a major physiological
function which contributes to loss of quality in fruits and vegetables during storage.
The change in quality can be reduced by lowering the environmental temperature and by
regulating the amounts of O2 and CO2 in the atmosphere surrounding the product during
storage.
Increasing the amount of CO2 tends to reduce the respiration rate, and this re-
duction may be further augmented by decreasing the concentration of O2, provided the
decrease is not carried too far. There is a critical level of O2 below which an un-
desirable anerobic respiration will occur.
A.I. Nelson and associates in the Department of Food Science undertook to iden-
tify and to measure the chemical changes that take place in spinach and broccoli dur-
ing storage under several environmental temperatures and in various controlled atmos-
pheres involving levels of O2, CO2, and N2 .
Samples of spinach were stored for 8 to 9 days and then analyzed for ascorbic
acid, dehydroascorbic acid, pH, titratable acidity, total nitrogen, protein nitrogen,
and soluble nitrogen. For nitrogen storage, 400-gram samples of spinach were placed
in closed jars that could be flushed with nitrogen once a day. Samples for controlled
atmosphere (CA) storage were placed in open-top ventilated metal containers 10 inches
in diameter and 12 inches high. These were flushed with CA containing 9. 2 percent C02,
4.0 percent C>2, and the balance N2. Storage temperatures used were 34° and 45° F.
The rate of ascorbic acid loss from spinach was slightly higher in CA than in
air at 34° F. , but only half as much as when stored at 45° F. Loss of vitamin C in
CA was less at 45° than at 34° F. , while samples stored in N2 atmosphere showed a loss
of more than 50 percent in total antiscorbutic value. A marked increase in pH took
place in spinach stored in CA, while titratable acidity increased during air storage
and decreased in CA. Protein was degraded at about the same slow rate in both air
and CA storage.
Similar studies with green beans showed that oxygen concentrations had to be re-
duced to 2 percent to decrease respiration to 60 percent of that in air, while changes
in CO2 level had little or no effect. Color of the stored beans was improved because
chlorophyll breakdown was retarded. No differences were found in flavor and texture
scores.
Changes in broccoli were studied by storing shoots at the same temperatures used
for spinach but with O2 variations from 2 to 21 percent and CO2 from 0 to 20 percent.
Respiration rate was determined by measuring CCb evolution, and color of broccoli
heads was evaluated by total chlorophyll determination and by panel color grading.
Respiration was reduced by progressive increases in CO2 and decreases in 02- An
atmosphere of 20 percent CO2 and 21 percent O2 inhibited respiration to about the same ;.
extent as did one of 2 percent O2 with no added C02- Chlorophyll retention and color
scores were improved by progressive increases in CO2 and decreases in O2; but a high
28
level of CO2 was more effective in retaining chlorophyll than was a low level of O2.
Controlled atmosphere storage for 28 days at 34° F. resulted in good color retention.
Color and texture changes in raw stalks due to atmosphere, time, and temperature
were minimal. After cooking, however, stalks stored in high CO2 had brighter green
color and softer texture; and these differences were progressively greater with in-
creasing CO2 in the atmosphere.
Such information can be of value to both fresh-produce handlers and frozen-food
packers. The packer of precooked frozen foods would be benefited by the better color
after cooking and by the reduced cooking time required to obtain optimum texture.
29
CONTROLLED FEEDING AS A TECHNIQUE
IN ANIMAL EXPERIMENTATION
Controlled feeding in animal experimentation is perhaps most easily illustrated by
the use of two different rations which are fed in equal quantities in order to dis-
cover or to demonstrate some specific nutritional effect on the experimental animals.
Interpretation of results can be subject to considerable error because of possible
wide variation in voluntary food intake by individual animals.
An important adaptation of the method by means of the paired-feeding technique
was first suggested by H.P. Armsby at the Pennsylvania Station in 1921, and has since
been used by many investigators. From 1928 on, the procedure was refined and well
established by H.H. Mitchell and co-workers, using paired animals kept under condi-
tions in which food intake of the animals in each pair could be controlled and equalized.
In an early experiment concerning cystine deficiency, nine pairs of rats were
used. One rat in each pair received a ration containing 8 percent of protein from
dried skim milk, while its pair mate received the same ration with 7.76 percent of
milk protein and 0.24 percent of cystine. In each pair, the rats were of the same
sex and of very nearly the same weight. They were kept in individual cages and fed
weighed amounts of the respective rations, with total food intake per week carefully
equalized, as determined by the rat consuming the least.
The rat receiving the cystine supplement gained more than its pair mate in 10
weeks of feeding in each of the nine pairs. This result would have been obtained by
chance only once in 512 trials, thus showing clearly that milk protein is deficient
in cystine, in terms of supplying the growth requirements of the rat.
Many such tests on laboratory animals, swine, and chickens have amply demon-
strated the value of the paired-feeding method in nutrition studies.
30
COOPERATIVE EXTENSION SERVICE1
Technically, the Cooperative Extension Service in Illinois began with the passage of
the Smith-Lever Act on May 8, 1914, but in a practical sense it began much earlier,
when the Illinois Farmers' Institute was created by an act of the state legislature
passed on June 24, 1895. The act declared the Institute to be a public corporation
of the state, "to assist and encourage useful education among the farmers, and for
developing the agricultural resources of the state." Further, "It shall consist of
three delegates from each county of the state, elected annually at the Farmers' In-
stitutes for said county by the members thereof." The act provided that:
There shall be held annually, under the direction of the Board of Direc-
tors, between October 1 and March 1 following of each year, a public
meeting of the delegates from county farmers' institutes and of farmers
of this state, at such time and place as may be determined by the Board
of Directors, of not less than three days' duration, which meeting shall
be held for the purpose of developing the greater interest in the culti-
vation of crops, in the care and breeding of domestic animals, in dairy
husbandry, in horticulture, in farm drainage, in improved highways, and
general farm management, through and by means of liberal discussions of
these and kindred subjects.
The institute was highly successful, and there was continuing cooperation be-
tween its members and the College of Agriculture. In 1901, Dean Davenport appointed
Fred H. Rankin to represent the university at county Farmers' Institute meetings and
to carry the university's message to the local people. A year later he was given the
title of Superintendent of Agricultural College Extension, which included added re-
sponsibilities such as visiting with farmers, contacting youth groups, and appearing
at various public gatherings where agricultural topics were discussed.
Active cooperation between the Institute and the College continued and helped
lay the foundation for what became known as the Agricultural Extension Service (later
called Extension Service in Agriculture and Home Economics and eventually Cooperative
Extension Service) . Dean Davenport felt that the Extension Service would be more
likely to succeed if local people were responsible for planning and administering
the program, so he encouraged the formation of county associations. The first to be
formed were known as soil improvement, soil and crop improvement, or farm improvement
associations, but eventually all became known as county farm bureaus. Several counties
were already organized and had employed farm advisers before the Smith-Lever Act was
passed. These were DeKalb and Kankakee counties in 1912; McHenry, Livingston, Will,
DuPage, Kane, Tazewell, Peoria, and Champaign in 1913; and Winnebago and Iroquois in
early 1914. The Secretary of Agriculture agreed that these local associations could
serve as the official sponsors of the Extension Service in their counties after enact-
ment of the Smith-Lever legislation.
Dean Davenport kept the rules for a county organization in simple terms: When
as many as 300 farmers in a county requested help, they could form an organization
ISee also "Home Economics Extension" and "4-H Club Work."
31
which would have as its sole objective cooperation with the College of Agriculture
and the USDA in supporting and managing the work of the county farm adviser, who had
to be approved by the College. The local organization would have to raise enough
funds to finance at least part of the work.
It was agreed that a candidate for employment as farm adviser should have had
at least five years of actual experience in farm practice, education substantially
equivalent to a course in an agricultural college, and five years of successful ex-
perience after graduation.
Three more counties organized in late 1914, four in 1915, four in 1916, five
in 1917, 32 in 1918, ten in 1919, 16 in 1920, and nine in 1921, leaving only seven
counties unorganized. Four of these later joined adjacent counties, and three organ-
ized separately, so that by 1937 all 102 counties were represented by local farm
bureaus .
Just as the Illinois Farmers' Institute and the College of Agriculture worked
together during the Institute's first twenty years, so did the Cooperative Extension
Service and farm bureaus for forty years after passage of the Smith-Lever Act in
1914. The significance of this relationship was aptly stated by John J. Lacey in
the preface to his book "Farm Bureau in Illinois," published by the Illinois Agricul-
tural Association.
We should be forever conscious of and grateful for the combination of
circumstances which caused Farm Bureau to be jointly sponsored by farmers
and the University of Illinois. Farm Bureau simply could not have grown
and developed as it did without the strong right arm of the Extension
Service; and conversely, Extension could not have attained its rugged
stature in Illinois without the solid backing of organized farmers. Farm-
ers looked to the University for factual information, not only for use in
their own business, but also to use in formulating policies for the Farm
Bureau and its business affiliates. The fruitful results of half a centu-
ry of teamwork by these great institutions are apparent everywhere in
Illinois.
On July 1, 1943, the state legislature amended the law which had created the
Illinois Farmers' Institute, to provide that the affairs of the Institute should be
managed by the Agricultural Extension Service. The program of the Institute was
thereby integrated into that of the Extension Service. Eight years later, on June 18,
1951, the original act of 1895 was repealed, and the Institute, which had been such
an effective force for Illinois agriculture, ceased to exist.
Passage of the Smith-Lever Act, coupled with the requirement for matching state
funds, made it possible not only to employ farm advisers as individual counties be-
came organized, but also to appoint full-time specialists in the college departments
to work with the farm advisers in various subject-matter fields. By 1922, names that
were to become well known in Cooperative Extension included F.C. Bauer in soils, W.S.
Brock in horticulture, J.C. Hackleman in crops, F.P. Hanson in farm mechanics, Emil
Rauchenstein in farm organization and management, C.S. Rhode in dairy husbandry, and
W.H. Smith in animal husbandry.
In the meantime, because of the need for increased food production during World
War I, Congress appropriated emergency funds to promote the organization of farmers
and to enlist their aid in achieving maximum food production. Assistant State Leaders
C.A. Atwood, J.D. Bilsborrow, J.C. Spitler, and Vernon Vaniman spent much of their
time organizing county farm bureaus. Although increased food production was an im-
mediate objective, the basic idea promulgated in Document 88 issued by the States
32
Relations Service in 1918 was not overlooked. In that document the definition of a
county farm bureau was given as follows:
A county farm bureau is an institution for the development of a county
program of work in Agriculture and Home Economics, and for cooperating
with state and government agencies in the development of a profitable
farm management and efficient home and community life.
The Farm Bureau—Extension relationship was the subject of several investiga-
tions in the late 1920' s, but the depression, the New Deal, and World War II directed
attention to other matters, and little was heard of the separation of Extension from
Farm Bureau until 1948. In that year the National Association of State Universities
and Land-Grant Colleges set up a committee to study the goals, programs, and objec-
tives of the Extension Service, and to make recommendations. One of the committee's
recommendations was :
It is in the public interest for any formal operating relationship between
Extension and any general farm organization, such as Farm Bureau, to be
discontinued at the earliest possible moment.
Not all of the committee agreed, and one dissenting opinion recorded in its pro-
ceedings was expressed by Dean H.P. Rusk of Illinois.
Largely as a result of the findings of this committee, the Granger Bill was in-
troduced in Congress in 1949. It provided that federal funds would be withheld from
any state extension service that had an operating agreement with any single farm or-
ganization. This was directed primarily against existing arrangements in Illinois,
Iowa, New York, and a few other states. The bill failed to pass, and not much more
happened until November, 1954, when Secretary of Agriculture Ezra Benson issued Mem-
orandum 1368 entitled "Activities of Department Employees with relation to General
and Specialized Organizations of Farmers." The basic provisions of the memorandum
were two:
1. No employee of the Department shall accept the use of free office space or con-
tributions for salary or travel expense from any general or specialized organi-
zation of farmers.
2. Employees of the Department shall be subject to the supervision and control of
regularly appointed Departmental employees, and such supervision and control
shall not be delegated directly or indirectly to any general or specialized or-
ganization of farmers.
This required some radical changes in Illinois. There was nothing in the Memo-
randum or in the law to prevent county organizations from making contributions to
the University of Illinois to be used for extension work; and substantial contribu-
tions of this nature have been used for rent of office space and other local expense.
In 1964 a task force appointed jointly by Secretary of Agriculture Orville
Freeman and President Henry of the University of Illinois made a detailed study of
the whole problem of relationships and submitted a report containing six major
recommendations :
1. The primary purpose of Cooperative Extension is education and this needs to be
reiterated and reinforced.
2. The county Extension offices in Illinois should be identified as an integral
part of the University of Illinois and the USDA, and not as a part of any gen-
eral farm organization.
33
3. The county Cooperative Extension Service offices should be located in physical
facilities which emphasize to the public they serve, their close association
with the University of Illinois and the USDA, and not imply close association
with any general or specialized farm organization.
4. Since the county Extension Service is an educational program serving all persons
engaged in agriculture and homemaking, the primary source of financial support
for their programs and their administration should be public tax funds provided
from federal, state, and county appropriations.
5. The county Extension Councils and the county Homemakers Extension Councils should
be clearly identified as representing all of the farmers and homemakers in the
county, and the two councils should work together very closely.
6. The farm and home advisers should be clearly identified in their important role
as University of Illinois staff members extending the educational program of the
College of Agriculture to all citizens of the state.
The members of the task force were Herbert R. Albrecht, President, North Dakota
State University; Richard E. Ballard, Auditor, Inspector General's Office, U.S. De-
partment of Agriculture; Leslie E. Card, Emeritus Head of the Department of Animal
Science, University of Illinois; William E. Lavery, Field Representative, Federal
Extension Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture; Shannon McCune, Staff Associate,
Office of the President, University of Illinois; and Raymond E. Seltzer, Vice Pres-
ident, Agri Research, Inc., Manhattan, Kansas.
Following the report, the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois ap-
proved a policy statement to the effect that the Extension Service should be housed
in a variety of situations, and that enough county offices should be moved from farm
bureau buildings to establish this principle. Subsequently, more than half of the
offices were moved, and rigid criteria for tenancy were set up for those instances
in which the offices remained in farm bureau buildings. The local portion of financ-
ing also shifted, for the most part, from farm bureaus to county boards of commis-
sioners or supervisors.
Prior to this an 11 -member Staff Committee on Extension in Agriculture and Home
Economics had been appointed by Dean L.B. Howard in early 1960 with instructions to
"seek to identify within the framework of the changing agricultural scene those fac-
tors which will play dominant roles in determining the future growth and development
of the Extension Service in Illinois." It was also made clear that "it is not the
function of the committee to develop an extension program."
Some of the broad areas in which all extension workers have a responsibility
and a challenge were identified by the committee as follows:
1. Improving the understanding among farm people of the economy in which they op-
erate, and of the market for and the pricing of their products. Such understand-
ing is a prerequisite to (2) and (3) which follow.
2. Aiding individual farmers and farm families in making desirable adjustments in
the use of their available resources. A program of production education involves
both technical information in crop and livestock production and the best use of
such information in a complete program on the individual farm. The consequences
of individual production and financial management decisions (involving the home
as well as the farm) can be serious because of increasing volume of business per
farm, relatively low price-cost margins, and current difficulties in financing.
34
3. Improving the understanding of public policies and programs related to agricul-
ture, and developing a well-informed leadership capable of influencing and in-
terpreting such policies and programs.
4. Assisting farm and non-farm families in developing rural communities, institu-
tions, and special-interest organizations that will contribute to a more complete
and satisfying life. In the past several years, the most rapidly increasing sec-
tor of our population has been the rural non-farm population, a development that
is not limited to what are known as fringe areas near metropolitan centers.
5. Helping non-farm people, including those in industries closely associated with
agriculture, to obtain a better understanding of agricultural problems.
6. Broadening those programs which involve industries engaged in supplying materials
and equipment to farmers and in the marketing, processing, and distribution of .
farm products. Education in agriculture cannot be limited to a "farm" program.
Extension has a vital interest in, and an obligation to, those agricultural in-
dustries which contribute to the welfare of farm families.
7. Helping farm families faced with the need or the desire to leave farming as an
occupation, to make the necessary adjustments in shifting to a full-time or part-
time non-farm occupation.
A realistic consideration of these and other related questions will make
it clear that Extension cannot possibly "be all things to all people."
This is recognized in part in the view long held by the Extension Service
that extension programs should originate in the counties and that the chief
function of the Service itself is to provide trained personnel to assist in
carrying out the educational aspects of the program. This idea, laudable in
itself as an expression of the reluctance of the Service to dominate, in-
evitably tends to lessen acceptance by the Service of responsibility for
leadership in educational matters. This tendency needs to be offset by a
dynamic program through which the Cooperative Extension Service can and
will exercise effective leadership.
Having established that background for its study, the committee invited comments
on local problems from county extension personnel, and from those received as well as
from its own observations, concluded that under the economic conditions existing at
the time it was essential for Extension to do an even better job than ever before.
It set out the following areas as needing primary consideration for the future:
Financing the Cooperative Extension Service
People-to-people relationships
Staff status of county personnel
Professional training of extension personnel
Program planning, including youth work
Organization: area specialists,
combining county units, one Extension Council in each
county instead of two
Internal communication within the Service itself
The next step was a two-day administrative seminar and workshop held in Decem-
ber, 1961, involving the members of the administrative staff and the subject-matter
specialists. A sumary statement approved by the group read as follows:
The public, as clientele of Extension,' is expecting from Cooperative Ex-
tension (1) more and more specialization; (2) a wider latitude in technol-
ogy J (3) expanded educational service to urban needs; and (4) educational
leadership with commercial suppliers.
35
The state staff acknowledges the educational needs of local people as the
basis for program planning and development.
For the most effective training and service, the state and area special-
ists should be based in their respective subject-matter departments. These
arrangements make a strong educational authority in Illinois which should
be strengthened with more specialized training for field staff.
The effectiveness of the state staff depends upon the clientele's accept-
ance of the field staff. To maintain and improve acceptance, it is impor-
tant that the county units be properly identified and adequately financed,
and that the county staff and councils understand organizational change.
County clientele and councils should be sampled to determine the need for
structural change. We should be sure our changes are improvements.
In July, 1965, Director J.B. Claar appointed a 17-member Extension Staff Study
Committee "to evaluate our progress and plan ahead for the '70s." Specifically, the
committee was asked to study the desirability of making changes in the assignments
of Extension staff and in methods of operation to achieve more specialization and
multi-county programming.
The committee based its report on the principle that Cooperative Extension
should maintain a built-in flexibility in its organization so that it can readily
make structural changes in order to offer educational services to its various audi-
ences at the highest possible level of efficiency.
Under "Goals for the System" the committee said in part:
Meeting the needs of its clientele in the '70s presents a challenge to Co-
operative Extension, both in the degree of specialization required of its
staff and in the breadth of activities for which it needs to be prepared.
Extension must therefore develop and maintain the highest possible profes-
sional competence within its own staff. Since programs are continually
changing, Extension administration must exert a continuing effort to en-
courage, and to facilitate, additional education for its staff.
In its planning for the future, Extension should consider the pattern of
junior college development in the state, and the location of existing ed-
ucational institutions, in order to give due recognition to the education-
al resources available, and to become available, and to make it easy for
these institutions to participate in the total Extension program.
Organization for the future was given major consideration by the committee, as
indicated by the following statements in its report:
1. The committee recommends that the Extension program of the future be
built around the concept of a total University system of off-campus education.
2. We recommend the establishment of University Extension Centers, located
at readily accessible points and numbering eventually 10 to 15, with func-
tions as follows:
a) Providing for the housing of professional staff--the exact number
at any center to be determined on the basis of specific education-
al needs of the area.
b) Providing accommodations for conferences and other meetings.
c) Providing facilities for extension courses, both credit and non-
credit.
36
3. We believe that the highest level of local program efficiency can best
be developed on a multi-county educational service area basis. The number
of counties in such areas would vary among subject-matter fields, and would
depend upon the educational needs of clientele groups within the area. In
some instances, the educational needs of a clientele group may indicate
that the educational service offered might not extend farther than the
boundaries of a single county.
The committee endorses the current plan of identifying certain advisers as
especially competent in designated subject-matter fields and assigning them
to work across county lines (examples: soils, crops, livestock, 4-H). The
committee also approves the principle of employing area advisers in spe-
cialized subject-matter fields (examples: agricultural engineering, agri-
cultural economics, resource development).
4. We recommend that the county offices be continued as long as they con-
tribute efficiently to the educational program, and that they remain the
centers for 4-H and similar programs.
5. We urge that Extension continue to involve local people in program planning.
Finally, we recommend that the Cooperative Extension Service strive for
more stable financial support. This stability will become increasingly im-
portant as Extension moves toward Extension Centers and area programs.
When enough county farm bureaus had been organized to make it feasible, it be-
came established policy for all extension work to be carried on by or through the
farm advisers. A meeting sponsored by a teacher of vocational agriculture or a com-
mercial feed company, for example, would be cleared through the farm adviser if uni-
versity personnel from Urbana were to be involved in the program.
State subject-matter specialists initiated extension projects, but a decision
as to which projects should receive major emphasis in a given county or in a partic-
ular year rested with the farm adviser and his Extension Council. As the program ex-
panded to include more and more people, it became necessary to have a small adminis-
trative group in Urbana to maintain close contact with the counties in order to be
as helpful as possible to the local staff. Accordingly, the state was divided into
six districts, with an Assistant State Leader for Agriculture and one for Home Eco-
nomics in each. This arrangement served for many years, until the addition of various
statewide programs called for further subdivision.
The organizational changes adopted in 1972 provided for ten Extension districts
instead of six, with a district director for each. Under the new arrangement, each
district director will eventually reside in the field instead of in Urbana, and be
administratively responsible for all personnel and programs in his or her district.
The new field system should also broaden some of the advantages experienced in the
pilot regional office in Peoria through which the Director of Extension was asked
to coordinate all adult education activities in the area from all three campuses of
the University.
37
Organization of County Farm Bureaus in Illinois
Original name
First farm adviser
Date
DeKalb County Soil Improvement
Association
Kankakee County Soil and Crop
Improvement Association
McHenry County Soil Improvement
Association
Livingston County Soil and Crop
Improvement Association
Will County Soil and Crop
Improvement Association
DuPage County Agricultural
Improvement Association
Kane County Farm Improvement
Association
Tazewell County Farm Bureau
Peoria County Farm Bureau
Champaign County Agricultural
Improvement Association
Winnebago County Farm Improvement
Association
Iroquois County Crop and Soil
Improvement Association
Bureau County Agricultural
Improvement Association
LaSalle County Better Farming
Association
Farmers' Soil and Crop Improvement
Association of Grundy County
Adams County Farm Improvement
Association
Hancock County Soil Improvement
Association
McLean County Better Farming
Association
Mason County Farm Bureau
Woodford County Farm Bureau
Lee County Soil Improvement
Association
Mercer County Crop Improvement
Association
Rock Island County Agricultural League
Fulton County Agricultural
Association
Lake County Farm Improvement
Association
Randolph County Soil and Farm
Improvement Association
Ogle County Farm Bureau
Henry County Farm Bureau
Saline County Farm Bureau
Effingham County Farm Bureau
William G. Eckhardt
John S. Collier
Delos L. James
Roy C. Bishop
Frank C. Grannis
Edward B. Heaton
Jerome E. Readhimer
Ernest T. Robbins
Henry Truitt
Charles H. Oathout
Albert M. TenEyck
Lewis W. Wise
Charles J. Mann
Ira S. Brooks
Frank H. Demaree
Earl W. Rusk
A.M. Wilson
D.O. Thompson
Frank D. Baldwin
M.L. Mosher
Leland S. Griffith
I.F. Gillmor
Palmer R. Edgerton
Aaron W. Miner
Warren E. Watkins
John J. Doerschuk
George T. Snyder
John T. Montgomery
Earl A. Price
Herbert J . Rucker
June 1, 1912
June 1, 1912
February 1, 1913
February 10, 1913
April 1, 1913
May 1, 1913
June 1, 1913
June 1, 1913
June 16, 1913
September 1, 1913
January 1, 1914
April 1, 1914
June 1, 1914
September 1, 1914
November 1, 1914
April 1, 1915
April 1, 1915
April 1, 1915
July 1, 1915
January 1, 1916
March 6, 1916
April 1, 1916
December 1, 1916
March 1, 1917
March 1, 1917
July 1, 1917
October 1, 1917
November 1, 1917
January 1, 1918
February 1, 1918
38
Original name
First farm adviser
Date
Logan County Farm Bureau
Macoupin County Farm Bureau
Moultrie County Farm Bureau
Clinton County Farm Bureau
Macon County Farm Bureau
Morgan County Farmers ' Club
Vermilion County Farm Bureau
Sangamon County Farmers' Association
Coles County Agricultural Development
Association
Stephenson County Farm Improvement
Association
Christian County Farm Bureau
Edgar County Agricultural Improvement
Association
Henderson County Farm Bureau
Madison County Farm Bureau
Monroe County Farm Bureau
Montgomery County Farm Bureau
Union County Farm Improvement
Association
Jersey County Farm Bureau
DeWitt County Farm Bureau
Richland County Farm Bureau
Crawford County Farm Bureau
Greene County Farm Bureau
Whiteside County Farm Bureau
Shelby County Farm Bureau
Williamson County Farm Bureau
Warren County Farm Bureau
Jackson County Farm BureauJ
Clark County Farm Bureau
Knox County Farm Bureau
Marion County Farm Bureau
Cass County Farm Bureau
Johnson County Farm Bureau
Menard County Farm Bureau
McDonough County Farm Bureau
Piatt County Farm Bureau
St. Clair County Farm Bureau
Ford County Farm Bureau
Edwards County Farm Bureau „
Franklin County Farm Bureau
Pike County Farm Bureau
Stark County Farm Bureau
Carroll County Farm Bureau
Marshall -Putnam Farm Bureau
Brown County Farm Bureau
Bond County Farm Bureau
,1
Elmer T. Ebersol
William P. Miller
Allen L. Higgins
Charles H. Rehling
Sidney B. Smith
George B. Kendall
Arthur Lumbrick
Irwin A. Madden
Melvin Thomas
George F. Baumeister
Clair E. Hay
Walter B. Gernet
James H. Miner
Julian B. Haberkorn
James A. Tate
Alden E. Snyder
Charles E. Durst
Clifford E. Wheelock
Floyd L. Johnson
Harry B. Piper
Clarence C. Logan
Eugene M. Phillips
Stephen J. Craig
Charles H. Belting
William E. Hart
Ralph H. Wells
Clair J. Thomas
Edward H. Walworth
Emil M.D. Bracker
F.J. Blackburn
Robert W. Dickenson
Or a M. McGhee
Garfield J. Wilder
R.C. Doneghue
Arthur E . Burwash
B.W. Yillman
Francis C. Hersman
Henry R. Pollock
Henry A. DeWerff
Otis Kercher
Evlan E. Brown
George R. Bliss
Frank E. Fuller
Aubrey E. Davidson
Charles Tarble
February 1, 1918
February 1, 1918
February 2, 1918
March 1, 1918
March 1, 1918
March 1, 1918
March 1, 1918
March 11, 1918
March 16, 1918
March 16, 1918
April 1, 1918
April 1, 1918
April 1, 1918
April 1, 1918
April 1, 1918
April 1, 1918
April 1, 1918
April 4, 1918
April 15, 1918
April 15, 1918
April 20, 1918
April 26, 1918
May 1, 1918
June 1, 1918
June 1, 1918
July 1, 1918
August 16, 1918
September 1, 1918
September 1, 1918
September 26, 191£
February 1, 1919
March 1, 1919
March 6, 1919
March 15, 1919
April 1, 1919
June 1, 1919
July 26, 1919
August 1, 1919
September 1, 1919
November 1, 1919
January 1, 1920
February 1, 1920
February 20, 1920
April 1, 1920
April 17, 1920
lBecame Jackson-Perry June 5, 1937.
^Became Franklin-Hamilton February 1, 1937
39
Original name
First farm adviser
Date
Jo Daviess County Farm Bureau
Lawrence County Farm Bureau
Douglas County Farm Bureau
Kendall County Farm Bureau
Schuyler County Farm Bureau
Boone County Farm Bureau
Wabash County Farm Bureau
Cook County Farm Bureau
Pulaski County Farm Bureau
Scott County Farm Bureau
Calhoun County Farm Bureau
Jefferson County Farm Bureau
Massac County Farm Bureau
Clay County Farm Bureau
White County Farm Bureau
Cumberland County Farm Bureau
Gallatin County Farm Bureau
Pope County Farm Bureau**
Wayne County Farm Bureau
Washington County Farm Bureau
Fayette County Farm Bureau
Jasper County Farm Bureau
Clifford C. Burns
Henry C. Wheeler
Frank W. Garrett
Earl A. Price
George E. Gentle
James C. Cline
Forrest A. Fisher
Charles E. Durst
William R. Eastmen
Guy H. Husted
John H. Allison
Bertram Abney
Ora M. McGhee
William E. Hart
Edward W. Creighton
Charles B. Price
Cecil W. Simpson
Levett Kimmel
Charles T. Hufford
George E. Smith
Johathan B. Turner
Russell E. Apple
May 1, 1920
May 1, 1920
June 1 ,
June 1 ,
June 1 ,
June 15
June 16,
July 1,
1920
1920
1920
1920
1920
1920
September 10, 1920
November 22, 1920
February 8, 1921
March 15, 1921
May 1, 1921
June 1, 1921
June 19, 1921
July 1, 1921
September 1, 1921
September 1, 1921
October 1, 1921
September 1, 1926
March 1, 1935
October 1, 1936
3Became Pulaski-Alexander February 3, 1931.
^Became Pope-Hardin November 18, 1931.
40
CORN BREEDING
Corn breeding at Illinois is an excellent example of a research project carried on
for nearly three-quarters of a century with virtually no change in its original ob-
jective, namely, to improve the nutritional quality of the corn kernel by changing
its chemical composition through continued selection. A doctoral thesis by C.G.
Hopkins, entitled "The Chemistry of the Corn Kernel," published as Bulletin 53 of
the Illinois Station in June, 1898, described the early work.
Ten years later, in September, 1908, Bulletin 128 by Louie H. Smith was entitled
"Ten Generations of Corn Breeding." It pointed out that, starting with a variety of
average composition--Burr 's White Corn--it had been possible by selection and breed-
ing, in ten generations:
1. To increase average protein content from 10.92 to 14.26 percent
2. To decrease average protein content from 10.92 to 9.64 percent
3. To increase average oil content from 4.70 to 7.37 percent
4. To decrease average oil content from 4.70 to 2.66 percent
By 1936--in the 40th generation--these figures were 21.63, 9.61, 10.14, and 1.24
percent, respectively; and by 1973--in the 74th generation- -they were 26.25, 4.19,
18.41, and 0.17 percent.
The general procedure was to analyze 60 ears each year from the high- and low-
protein and the high- and low-oil strains; and then to use the 12 highest ears in
the high strains and the 12 lowest ears in the low strains for the next year's planting.
During the early years, the various strains were grown in isolated plots, but
when it became difficult to find well-isolated plots each year, pollinating was done
artificially by bagging shoots and tassels in order to prevent outcrossing with other
strains growing nearby, and to avoid interbreeding within strains.
An interesting and valuable development in connection with breeding for high
oil content has been the application, since about 1960, of wide-line nuclear magnetic
resonance spectroscopy (NMR) in nondestructive analysis for determining the oil con-
tent of living seeds--even single corn kernels, soybeans, and the like. To test the
accuracy of this method, corn samples ranging in size from single seeds to 25 grams
were scanned by NMR and also gravimetrically analyzed. A high positive correlation
(r = 0.99+) was invariably found, provided the moisture content of the sample was
no higher than 4.5 percent. (See separate account "Nuclear Magnetic Resonance.")
41
COSTS OF TRANSFERRING FARM PROPERTY BY INHERITANCE
Tax costs on property transfers have increased primarily as a result of substantial
increases in property values. The amount of taxes paid to transfer farm and other
property also varies considerably, depending on how the property is held, whether a
will or trust is used, what the property and insurance are worth at the time of
death, whether well-prepared plans were made during lifetime, and many other factors.
To obtain information that could be used in properly advising farm people on
sound methods of preserving their assets by minimizing transfer costs, a study was
made by N.G.P. Krausz and F.D. Marti of a sample of 50 estates containing farmlands
in Bond, Champaign, Kankakee, Marion, and Peoria counties. Samples were picked at
random from the larger estates probated between 1950 and 1955. All but two were val-
ued above $20,000, and the range was from $13,011 to $837,578 gross.
The average federal estate tax paid was 5.8 percent of the gross estate, and 20
of the 50 estates paid such a tax. The state inheritance tax was lower, reduced each
estate by an average of 1.3 percent, and was paid by 40 of the 50 estates. Taxes,
fees, and other costs for estates of various sizes ranged from about $4,000 for small
estates to more than $140,000 for the largest estates. (See next page for a break-
down by estate size.)
Taken together, the average total deduction for taxes, fees, and costs for all
50 estates amounted to 15.5 percent of the gross, with more than one-third of this
going for federal estate taxes.
In summary, the study showed that:
1. The appraisal of lands for death taxes appeared to follow a pattern similar
to that for property tax assessments. Better lands were underappraised,
and poorer lands were appraised at near market value. On the average, ap-
praisals were 74 percent of current market value in these 50 estates.
2. The Illinois inheritance tax was not a major consideration in most cases,
taking an average of 1.3 percent of the gross estate.
3. Fractionalization of farms was a serious problem: out of 137 heirs of re-
alty, 46 received less than 41 acres, and 78 less than 81 acres.
4. A will can be used to take maximum advantage of the marital deduction, and
that factor seemed to be an important consideration in most of the 33 es-
tates in which wills were involved. In eight estates (six of them without
a will), $128,288 of tax was paid because the marital deduction was not
fully used.
5. The federal estate tax was substantial for estates above $100,000, averaging
$6,069 at $100,000 to $140,000 value, and $20,348 at $180,000 to $250,000
value. Lifetime estate planning could have reduced and in some cases com-
pletely eliminated this tax.
42
Value of
Average
federal
Average
state
Average
fe
e receiv
ed by
Average
estates (in
Executor
Adminis-
Attorney
of other
thousands
tax
tax
trator
costs
(in dollars)
0 - 20
0
131
0
0
650
3,431
20 - 40
0
314
320
150
1,099
4,517
40 - 60
0
128
40
712
1,117
2,337
60 - 80
850
743
450
767
1,540
2,707
80 - 100
1,001
732
1,434
343
2,402
2,928
100 - 140
6,069
1,303
0
3
,350
2,903
5,871
140 - 180
9,130
1,634
1,187
2
,000
3,192
15,665
180 - 250
20,348
2,777
1,500
. . .
4,750
3,552
Over 250
87,480
16,535
11,250
16,250
9,255
The manner of holding and distributing property affects the amount of death
tax that is payable:
a) Joint tenancy reduced state inheritance taxes slightly, and in the larg-
er estates increased the federal tax because federal tax law presumes
that the deceased joint tenant owned all of the property in joint ten-
ancy.
b) Tenancy in common was used in 28 estates. Since only one-half of such
property is included in inventory for tax purposes, there was an advan-
tage, taxwise, over joint tenancy.
c) Life estates had no appreciable effect on death taxes.
d) Gifts made by will to churches, cemetary associations, colleges, hospi-
tals, etc. , are wholly deductible, and therefore reduced the tax rate
for the taxable portion of the estate.
Wills should be made early in life, since death-bed wills are often chal-
lenged in court, and federal law presumes that gifts made within three years
of death are actually made in contemplation of death and are therefore tax-
able.
Lack of planning often places a serious burden on the heirs to pay the taxes
and probate costs. In 11 of the 50 cases, the personal property (including
equipment, grain, and livestock) was not sufficient to pay these expenses.
One solution would be life insurance payable to the estate or to the prin-
cipal heir.
43
COTTONWOOD GENETICS
Eastern cottonwood, Populus deltoides, a tree well adapted to the bottomlands of
Illinois, has been extensively studied by J.J. Jokela in the Department of Forestry.
It is a fast grower, and when harvested for pulp has a short rotation of 10 to 12
years. Its fiber is widely used, especially for core material in plywood and in the
manufacture of certain kinds of paper. Although native to eastern North America, it
is grown commercially in Europe and elsewhere. The genus Populus grows worldwide,
and more than thirty species are known.
An early survey of the eastern cottonwood was prompted by published reports
suggesting that in poplars and other dioecious tree species a positive correlation
existed between maleness and such economic traits as vigor, resistance to disease,
wood quality, and stem form. The survey revealed no significant differences between
trees of the two sexes.
It is an ideal tree for genetic studies because it is dioecious and is easily
hybridized. It can also be vegetatively propagated by stem cuttings. As a basis
for inheritance studies, plantations of eastern cottonwood were established in 1959
on adjacent and comparable bottomland sites in the Sangamon Forest Plantations in
Piatt County. Three native populations (southern, west central, and east central)
are represented in each plantation. One planting consisted of unrelated single-
parent progenies established with one-year seedlings grown in the Mason State Tree
Nursery near Havana, Illinois. The other was a clonal plantation established with
potted cuttings rooted under intermittent mist. These cuttings had been obtained
from trees 4 to 11 inches in diameter, and were restricted to the current season's
growth on branch tips in the upper crowns of the trees.
As an example of the wide variation often observed in cottonwood, trees in the
random seed plantation averaged about 27 feet in height after eleven years, while
the best clone in the other plantation attained a height of 64 feet in the same time,
As the trees grew, observations were made on roughening of the bark. Such roughen-
ing was first noted in the seedling plantations during the third year following
planting. It extended progressively upward into the lower crowns of all trees
in this plantation. By contrast, only 10 percent of the trees in the clonal planta-
tion were roughbarked at eight years of age. This suggests that the smooth-bark
trait is characteristic of eastern cottonwood propagated from cuttings taken from
the upper parts of pole-size and larger trees. This outer bark is only one-fourth
to one-third as thick as that of rough-barked seedlings of comparable diameter, a
difference that may be of economic importance to the pulp and paper industry, even
though a thin, smooth bark is less resistant to freezing and sunscald.
Observations on the occurrence of the leaf rust, Melampspora medusae, indicated
that at least 2 percent of the trees in native populations appear to be resistant;
and it is suggested that considerable gains in rust resistance might be made by di-
rect selection, without the necessity of a clonal or progeny test, and that addi-
tional improvement might be made by further selection and breeding.
44
Provenance and heritability studies begun in 1959 with native Illinois trees
were later enlarged in cooperation with several state experiment stations and the
Southern Forest Experiment Station (U.S. Forest Service) to include material from
the entire Mississippi River basin. The objective of these studies is to provide
information on the amount and nature of genetic variation in the wild species that
would be useful for selection and breeding programs. Traits of special interest
have been growth rate, hardiness, disease resistance, branching habit, and leaf
characteristics .
The Department of Forestry was also instrumental in the establishment of the
first worldwide provenance tests of eastern cottonwood by organizing and directing
the collection and distribution of rangewide seed collections. Sixteen nations are
participating.
45
CROP YIELDS—VARIABILITY IN ILLINOIS COUNTIES
Farm business decisions as they relate to expectations for the future are, of neces-
sity, based to a large degree on past experience. Many such decisions are affected
by crop yields, and it is important to have reliable yield figures as a partial guide.
To provide such a base in 1957, Earl R. Swanson used average yield data by
counties for the years 1927 to 1953, as published by the Illinois Cooperative Crop
Reporting Service. Variation in county crop-yield figures will tend to underestimate
the variation for a particular farm within the county, but the county figures can be
very helpful as a starting point.
During the 1927-1953 period there was a general upward trend in yields for the
five crops studied- -corn, soybeans, oats, wheat, and hay--resulting from such factors
as new crop varieties, improved machinery, and increased use of fertilizers, so that
it was necessary to establish a trend line for each crop and each county. The stand-
ard deviation above and below this trend line was then used as a standard error of
estimate, expressed in bushels for the grain crops and in tons for hay. Thus the
trend line for corn yields in Warren County ran from about 38 bushels in 1927 to
about 63 bushels in 1953, with a standard error of estimate amounting to 9.4 bushels
This means that about two-thirds of the yields, year by year, fell between 9.4 bush-
els above and 9.4 bushels below the trend-line figures.
To provide values based on yields reasonably close to the end of the period
studied, this standard error of estimate was expressed as a percentage of the 1949-
1953 five-year average yield. Using Warren County again as an example, the average
corn yield for the 27-year period was 50 bushels, the standard error of estimate
about the trend line was 9.4 bushels, and this was 15.9 percent of the average yielc
for the 5-year period 1949-1953.
Considering all 102 counties, it is of interest to note that there were 29
counties in which the standard error of estimate was 20 percent or more of the 1949-
1953 average corn yield. At the other end of the scale, there were also 29 counties
in which the percentage figure was 15 or less. Only three counties — Clinton, Randolph,
and Washington— had percentages of 25 or higher; and only five counties— Carroll ,
Lee, Ogle, Winnebago, and Woodford— rated 10 or below. Averages for the state as a
whole were 44 bushels and 13 percent, respectively. Figures for all 102 counties anc
all five crops were published in Station Bulletin 610.
A further rating of counties was calculated by combining the variabilities for
all five crops, weighted by the percentage of land in the county devoted to each
crop. Yield variability increased, in general, from north to south in the state,
although there were some counties that deviated from the pattern. Thus the four counties
showing the lowest average crop yield variability were Carroll 10.6, Woodford 11.4,
Winnebago 11.9, and Whiteside 12.1; and the four showing the greatest average var-
iability were Clinton 23.3, Washington 22.6, Coles 22.4, and Wabash 22.4. Forty
counties fell within the narrow range of 17 to 15 percent.
46
DAIRY HERD IMPROVEMENT
The first cow-testing association in Illinois, and probably in the United States,
was organized in 1902 by W.J. Fraser and Arthur J. Glover (later editor of Hoard's
Dairyman). Eight farmers agreed to weigh milk from each cow twice daily every sev-
enth week, and to take samples for butterfat testing. This preceded by three years
the first cow-testing association to be officially recognized by the U.S. Department
of Agriculture, established by Helmer Rabild at Newago, Michigan, in 1905. Official
supervised testing did not begin in Illinois until 1910, and even as late as 1950
not more than 10 percent of all dairy herds in the state were enrolled in the pro-
gram. In 1924, Professor C.S. Rhode changed the name of the Illinois cow-testing
project to "Dairy Herd Improvement Association," and this name was later accepted
by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for the cow-testing groups included in the
National Cooperative Dairy Herd Improvement Program. The program has expanded until
it includes about 3,000,000 cows in about 70,000 herds located in the 50 states and
Puerto Rico.
Extension Dairy Specialist J.G. (Jerry) Cash felt that many other dairymen
would be interested in a simplified plan that, with a minimum of record keeping,
would enable them to make positive identification of the best-producing cows in
their herds and, more importantly, determine which cows were not paying their way.
When Cash offered his Weigh-A-Day-A-Month program, Clinton County was the first to
accept the idea, with farm adviser Bert Sinclair an enthusiastic promoter of the
plan. At a countywide meeting in December, 1953, attended by 175 dairymen, 20 herd
owners signed up to participate in the new program beginning in January, and the
plan was off to a good start.
Fortunately, milk records based on weighings made one day a month, usually on
the 15th, vary no more than about 2 percent from actual production records obtained
by daily weighings throughout the year. The cost is less, and the dairyman is re-
lieved of the routine chore of daily weighings. A few other records are needed,
such as the date each cow freshens, goes dry, or is sold. The record sheets are
mailed to the county extension office for summarizing, and completed monthly reports
for individual cows are returned to the herd owner. The dairyman must of course
furnish an accurate milk scale.
The WADAM program was soon accepted in other parts of the state, and in ten
years had spread to 35 counties, with 252 herds containing more than 6,000 cows.
Other states became interested, and eventually the Weigh-A-Day-A-Month plan was ac-
cepted nationally as a phase of the USDA-sponsored National Cooperative Dairy Herd
Improvement Program. It often happens that a dairyman who starts with the WADAM plan
finds that he wants more information about his herd and steps up to the Owner-Sampler
Plan or to the complete official DHIA plan.
In the Owner-Sampler plan, us the name implies, the herd owner records milk
weights and takes samples for each cow in his herd one day a month. The samples are
tested either by the DHIA supervisor, if the farm is included in his schedule of
visits, or in a central testing laboratory. The records are processed as in the
47
WADAM plan and are used by the dairyman for herd improvement purposes. They are not
official in the DHIA sense, and therefore are not used in the USDA sire evaluation
program or for research.
The standard DHIA record-keeping plan is the official plan, and the only one
that provides records eligible for use in sire and cow evaluations. The local as-
sociation supervisor visits each herd once each month. During the evening milking, he
weighs feed consumed and milk produced by each cow, and saves a small sample of her
milk, He follows the same procedure during the milking the next morning. He then
tests the milk samples for butterfat, or has them tested in a central laboratory.
These weights and tests are then used to calculate each cow's milk and butterfat
production for the month. At the end of the year, a summary record is made for each
herd. A lifetime record for each cow is developed at the same time. As evidence of
the value of DHIA participation to the individual dairyman, the average annual milk
production of DHIA cows exceeds that of non-DHIA cows for which records are available
by 4,000 pounds.
DHIA records provide a convenient and helpful basis for evaluating sires, when
the herdmate comparison method is used. A sire can be evaluated by comparing his
daughter's production with the production of other sire-progeny groups that were fed
and managed under the same conditions. This method minimizes the importance of
production differences from year to year and from herd to herd. Sire summaries are
provided by the USDA three times a year. Each sire in the summary has at least ten
production-tested progeny with production-tested herdmates. Cow summaries are based
on a combination of milk and butterfat yields and the transmitting ability of their
sires. The top 2 percent of the registered cows on official test are thus recog-
nized, and many of them are used selectively in the development of better bulls.
Another innovation in Illinois was central processing of DHIA records by the
use of EDP (Electronic Data Processing) equipment. This began on an experimental
basis in 1953 under the direction of L.R. Fryman, and proved so successful that
eventually all DHIA groups in the state changed over to the central processing sys-
tem. It was inevitable that local associations and county extension offices would
request that all three types of records be changed over from hand calculation. Cen-
tral processing was first used for Owner-Sampler records in 1955, and for Weigh-A-
Day-A-Month records in 1963. The entire system is now in use nationally. It is
worthy of mention that in Illinois the transfer from hand calculation to central
processing was made on a strictly voluntary basis. In several other states it had
to be made mandatory.
Central processing permits some other things to be done much more easily than
they could be done by hand. One such innovation in Illinois was the rolling herd
average. This new figure was first calculated in the fall of 1955. It gives each
dairyman the average milk production of his herd for the preceding twelve months.
It proved so popular in Illinois that it has been incorporated in the program of all
other processing centers across the nation.
Initially all records were entered on cards, but when tape equipment became
available, a shift was made to the use of magnetic tape for the storage of necessary
records. This greatly simplifies the preparation of yearly and lifetime lactation
records on individual cows, which are routinely returned to herd owners.
48
DEGREE DAYS FOR PREDICTING CROP DEVELOPMENT
Meteorologists and weather forecasters have long used "degree days," one type of heat
unit, for comparing the severity of one winter season with that of another and as a
basis for estimating fuel requirements. In such use, the number of degree days for a
specified period is the sum of the number of degrees per day that the average temper-
ature for each day in the period falls below 65° F. When used in relation to crop
production, on the other hand, the degree-day difference, or the sum for a given pe-
riod, refers to calculated differences above some specified figure called the base
temperature.
Degree days have been used for more than thirty years to time successive plant-
ings of highly perishable crops like sweet corn and peas, in order to have the crop
ready for harvest at the desired time. More recently, the degree-day system has also
been used by producers of some of the less perishable crops such as beans, spinach,
and tomatoes. The use of these calculations has been stimulated by the increasing
acceptance of mechanical equipment with its "once-over" harvesting procedure.
Seed catalogs often include such expressions as 58 days, 65 days, or 90 days to
indicate the approximate time between planting and harvest. This may be fine for the
average home gardener, but is not sufficient for the commercial grower who must time
his harvesting operations to fit marketing or processing schedules. The 65 days may
be increased to 70 or more if the weather is cool, or drop to 60 or fewer if it has
been warm. For this reason some seed companies are now including degree days in their
catalogs, thus enabling the grower to make his harvesting plans with greater accuracy.
A designated degree-day value will reflect the temperature-time relationship for the
variety in question.
The number of degree days required for a particular variety of lima beans, peas,
tomatoes, or sweet corn can be determined only by observation. Once this has been
done, a given variety of peas, for example, may then be described as a 1 ,220-degree-
day variety instead of as a 59-day variety. Then if peas of that variety are planted
on April 15, the base temperature is 40° F., and normal temperatures in the area rep-
resent a difference of 18.5 degrees per day above the base temperature for the next
eight or nine weeks after planting, the most likely harvesting date will be (1,220/18.5)
66 days after April 15, or June 20. This makes the peas a 66-day variety in that par-
ticular time and place, whereas in another location the result might be a 57-day va-
riety.
To the plant physiologist, even this is something of an oversimplification.
First, the mean daily temperature as determined from hourly recordings is seldom the
same as the simple average of maximum and minimum readings for the day; second, the
growth pattern of many plants can often be better represented by a curve than by a
straight line; and third, growth rate is often more closely related to soil tempera-
ture than to air temperature. The problem may be further complicated by the fact that
night temperatures are sometimes more effective than daytime temperatures. All of
these considerations have been used by C.Y. Arnold of the Department of Horticulture
in developing degree-day formulas that reflect the temperature-growth relationship
for various crops without being too complicated for practical use.
49
DIXON SPRINGS AGRICULTURAL CENTER
The Dixon Springs Agricultural Center is a great outdoor laboratory in southern Il-
linois. The Administration Building is located on Illinois Highway 145, midway be-
tween Harrisburg, Illinois, and Paducah, Kentucky.
The idea for such a center was born in the late 1920' s and began to take shape
in the early 1930's. Acting on requests from farmers in the area, Dean H.W. Mumford
interested Professor H.P. Rusk (later Dean Rusk) in investigating and locating a site
in southern Illinois on which to establish a research and demonstration facility.
After several inspection trips, some correspondence with officials in Washing-
ton, D.C., and a few memoranda of understanding, the University took the first option
on a 46-acre tract near Robbs on November 13, 1934. Professor Rusk then made a trip
to see Secretary of Agriculture Henry A. Wallace to request cooperation in obtaining
an additional section or two of land. He returned with permission to negotiate for
as much as 20,000 acres. More conservative thinking prevailed, and the final result
was the 5,300-acre tract which the Center now occupies.
Purchase and development of the Center under the general supervision of the
University, with the active cooperation of the Soil Erosion Service (now the Soil
Conservation Service) , CCC camps, the Resettlement Administration, the Bureau of Ag-
ricultural Economics, and the Works Progress Administration, extended from 1936 to
1940. In 1940 the present area was transferred to the U.S. Forest Service, which
in turn leased it to the University of Illinois under a Special Free Use Permit that
is still in effect.
The area involved was originally covered with hardwood timber. Early settlers,
some of whom had arrived before 1800, cleared some of the land and began to farm
their clearings. Heavy grain cropping and consequent severe soil erosion led to the
abandonment of many fields. Conditions were similar to those on other land, totalling
about 15,000,000 acres, in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Missouri, and Arkansas. Since the
Center could serve the needs of these other states as well as Illinois, the proposed
use of some federal funds for the project was easily justified.
Early research at the Center was directed toward finding and demonstrating the
best ways of improving and maintaining soil fertility and reducing soil and water
losses. Tied in with these objectives were efforts to determine which grain and for-
age crops and which beef cattle and sheep operations were best suited to the area.
These experiments provided facts to serve as guideposts in developing a system of
farming that would prove profitable to the operator and still maintain soil produc-
tivity for succeeding years. The main objective of the Dixon Springs Center has
therefore been developing these basic principles, building them into a program, and
then demonstrating the benefits of the program to farm operators and other interested
people. The program, on the whole, has been highly successful.
Findings that have been most important, as demonstrated by their acceptance and
measured by their value to farmers, are improved fertility practices which have made
possible the production of luxuriant pastures of adapted grasses and legumes. Im-
proved strains of fescue, orchardgrass, alfalfa, and clover have repeatedly proved
50
to be superior to the old bluegrass or redtop and timothy pastures. As a result, most
farmers in the area are today using these crops. Only limited acreages of redtop and
timothy are found on farms of the area.
In its livestock projects, the Center has demonstrated that quality beef cattle
and sheep will increase the returns from good pastures. Though cattle of many kinds
and descriptions are still found in the area, higher quality beef animals are in the
ascendency. From the very first, the beef herd at the Center has been on a continous
production-testing program. It was from the data amassed in this program that stand-
ards and correction factors were formulated for production testing of beef cattle
throughout the state. No other program promises more for a continuing prosperous beef
industry.
Unsophisticated and simple as these contributions may appear, it must be remem-
bered that at first they were applied and tested on soils that were depleted, eroded,
and abandoned, and on land in an area that more than a few people were willing to
cross off as hopeless. But the broad objective has been accomplished and the soils
have been improved. Farmers have, with renewed enthusiasm, applied this learning to
pasture and livestock management, and are even going beyond that to an economically
feasible grain production program. This fact alone rates the work at the Dixon Springs
Center as very much worth while.
Studies at the Center have been broadened in recent years. Departments and agen-
cies with active research projects include Animal Science, Agronomy, Forestry, Horti-
culture, the College of Veterinary Medicine, and the Natural History Survey. Produc-
tion of corn on a chemically killed fescue sod has been about equal in yields on
either a plow-and-plant seedbed or a plow-and-disk seedbed. There are still problems
to be solved, but minimum and zero tillage of row crops offers a real contribution
to lowered stream pollution. A deer-movement study by the State Natural History Sur-
vey is of much interest to conservationists. Radio-marked deer can be located once
each minute 24 hours a day, with transmitters that are good for two years before
battery failure.
The Horticulture Department has made variety tests of strawberries, tomatoes,
peppers, eggplant, and cucumbers adapted to the area, and has explored the possibil-
ities in greenhouse production of tomatoes. Another study involves fruits with a
pick-your-own marketing potential, such as blueberries, thornless blackberries, and
strawberries .
Forestry research involves determining the effects of soil moisture levels on
volume growth of 50-foot trees in the study plots and on various anatomical features
of the new wood growth. Studies are also being given to nontimber use of forest lands
in the area, specifically recreational use.
The Center serves as a natural focal point for Cooperative Extension operations
in southeastern Illinois, thus demonstrating the desire of the University of Illinois
to help the people of the area in finding solutions for some of their agricultural
and socio-economic problems.
51
DOUBLE MATING USED TO DETERMINE
OPTIMUM TIME FOR INSEMINATION
Rabbits, swine, and sheep were used by P.J. Dziuk and associates in Animal Science
to determine capacitation time (maturation time) of spermatozoa, and to estimate the
optimum interval between insemination and ovulation. It was hypothesized that by mat-
ing a doe with one buck at a specific time before ovulation and then to a second buck
whose offspring would be readily distinguishable, the offspring should be only from
the first buck when the interval from the second mating to ovulation was shorter than
capacitation time. If both matings occurred at intervals greater than capacitation
time, litters of mixed parentage would probably result.
Thirty-eight does were double-mated to two bucks whose offspring were distin-
guishable from each other. The interval between matings was 1/2, 1 , or 2 hours. Mat-
ing with the first buck was 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, or 4 hours before ovulation. When the
interval between matings was 2 hours, the first buck sired 86 percent of the off-
spring, and this percentage decreased as the interval between matings was shortened.
It was concluded that spermatozoa that have resided in the genital tract of the
doe for 10 hours have a competitive advantage over other spermatozoa introduced lat-
er. Sperm in the genital tract of the doe for more than 13 hours, however, are at a
disadvantage to sperm introduced later. On the other hand, rabbit spermatozoa aged
in vitro for 24 hours fertilized only 5 percent of eggs in competition with equal
numbers of fresh spermatozoa.
To confirm this conclusion, another experiment was conducted with New Zealand
White (W) and Dutch Belted (B) rabbits. Each W female was inseminated within 45 min-
utes after collection with 20,000,000 motile spermatozoa from either a B or a W male,
and three hours later with spermatozoa from the male of opposite color. The interval
between first insemination and ovulation was 19, 16, 13, or 10 hours. Ovulation was
then induced by an intravenous injection of 50 I.U. of human chorionic gonadotropin
at the appropriate time. Results from 58 pregnant does showed that the first buck
had a distinct advantage (sired 73 percent of the offspring) when mated 10 hours be-
fore ovulation. As the interval increased from 10 to 19 hours, the percentage figure
decreased to 54, 39, and finally to 18. It appears, therefore, that rabbit sperm-
atozoa fertilize eggs more readily when they have been in the female reproductive
tract 10 to 13 hours than when they have spent either more or less time there.
Forty litters of pigs were produced following double mating of gilts at a 6-
hour interval by boars whose offspring could be readily distinguished. The time of
insemination was determined precisely (± 1/2 hour) for each gilt. When gilts were
grouped according to the interval between mating and ovulation (30-24, 20-16, 14-12,
and 10-6 hours) , the first boar sired 33 percent and 30 percent of the offspring at
the two longer intervals, and 78 percent and 71 percent at the two shorter intervals.
In similar experiments with sheep, matings of 147 ewes took place first at 23,
19, 15, 11, or 7 hours before ovulation and again 4 hours later. Conception rates
were 39, 32, 81, 43 and 32 percent, respectively. The proportion of offspring from
the first ram was 51 percent from matings with the two longest intervals, and 67 per-
cent from the other three. The optimum time for insemination thus appears to be about
12 hours before ovulation in both gilts and ewes.
52
DURABILITY OF FENCE POSTS
For more than 2 0 years, research workers in the Department of Forestry have periodi-
cally inspected a group of fence posts originally treated with pentachlorophenol (com-
monly called penta) .
The posts were all eastern white pine, 7-1/2 feet long and about 4-1/2 inches in
top diameter. All were peeled, seasoned, and soaked for various lengths of time in a
cold solution of penta dissolved in No. 2 fuel oil. The solutions contained 10 per-
cent of the toxicant, but later tests have shown that 5 percent is sufficient.
Cold soaking in penta is a relatively simple and inexpensive method of protect-
ing fence posts against decay. Minimum soaking time should be 48 hours, with the
posts standing vertically in the solution. This will result in absorption of about
3 pounds of solution per cubic foot of wood. In the test of white pine posts just
mentioned, 97 percent of 190 posts were still serviceable after 21 years, in contrast
to an average useful life of about 6 years for untreated posts.
Pressure-treated posts usually last longer than those treated by soaking, but
the necessary equipment for pressure treatment is expensive, and custom treatment
plants are not always conveniently available.
If insect damage is likely to be a problem, a double-diffusion method may be
used. Green, peeled posts are cold-soaked in a solution of copper sulfate, followed
by a second soaking in sodium chromate. This precipitates copper chromate in the
wood, making it toxic to fungi and insects. Two-thirds of posts so treated proved
serviceable after 12 years.
53
ECONOMICS OF MACHINERY CHOICE
IN CORN PRODUCTION
Technological developments in all phases of corn production have occurred rapidly dur-
ing the last twenty years. Two of the most important as they affect the choice of
machinery are field shelling and planting rows closer together--commonly referred to
by the misnomer "narrow rows."
Field shelling was almost insignificant as recently as 1956, when 96 percent of
the corn acreage for grain in Illinois was harvested by mechanical corn pickers. Even
in 1960, the figure was 80 percent, but by 1966 only 43 percent of the corn was har-
vested by corn pickers, and 85 percent of the field-shelled corn was harvested by com-
bines.
Planting rows closer together allows earlier shading of the ground, which helps
in weed control and reduces the rate of evaporation of soil moisture. It also allows
for more equal distribution of sunlight to the corn plants. Expected higher yields
have not always been realized, but increased plant population per acre along with im-
proved cultural practices have resulted in a continuing increase in yield, amounting
to about 5 percent above yields obtained from conventional plantings with rows 40
inches apart.
With relatively high labor cost and an abundance of capital, many farmers have
been substituting capital investment for labor by enlarging farm size and by investing
in larger field machinery.
(From Station Bulletin 729, April, 1968.)
54
EMBRYO SURVIVAL IN PIGS
The number of pig embryos at day 25 of gestation is ordinarily about 65 percent to
70 percent of the number of corpora lutea. Intrauterine crowding has been proposed
as one of the possible causes of reduction in number of live embryos.
Studies by P.J. Dziuk and associates in the Department of Animal Science were
designed to test the effect of uterine crowding by changing the length of the uterine
segment available to each embryo. In some gilts, the uterus was ligated so that em-
bryos on one side of the ligature had only half as much uterine space per embryo as
was available to embryos on the other side. In other gilts, fertilized eggs were
transferred from donor gilts so that the number of eggs in the recipient was approx-
imately doubled, both donor and recipient having been mated four days before the transfer.
Embryo survival was unaffected when the uterine space per embryo was greater or
smaller than normal. Only when the average number of embryos was at least 14 did it
appear likely that uterine crowding was a possible limiting factor in embryo surviv-
al. It was concluded that intrauterine crowding is unlikely to be an important factor
in early embryonal losses under usual conditions.
In a related study, embryos were restricted to specific portions of the uterus
either by ligating the uterine horn at a certain point, or by flushing embryos from
one uterine horn and ligating the uterine body. A non-gravid segment as long as one-
sixth of the uterus did not interfere with continuation of pregnancy. Neither did a
non-gravid segment as long as one-third prevent pregnancy, but the percent of gilts
pregnant was reduced significantly (P < .05) from control levels in one group but
not in another. Pregnancy was maintained in only one of 42 gilts when one-half or
two-thirds of the uterus was unoccupied.
55
EUROPEAN CORN BORER IN ILLINOIS
The European corn borer (Pyrausta nubilatis) was first discovered in Illinois in
1939, and by 1942 had been found in all but six counties. It increased in numbers
gradually until 1944, and then more rapidly in 1945 and 1946. Thereafter the num-
bers varied according to weather conditions and corn planting dates. It soon became
the No. 1 agricultural insect pest in the state, causing losses estimated at 38 mil-
lion bushels of corn in 1954 and 64 million in 1955.
Ten years before the borer had moved as far west as Illinois, W.P. Flint, W.P.
Hayes, and J.D. DeCoursey in the Natural History Survey, in cooperation with W.L.
Burlison and G.H. Dungan in the Department of Agronomy, were searching for varieties
of corn that would yield well and be somewhat tolerant of moderate infestations of
the borer. Forty-five different strains of Illinois dent corn and 17 selections of
sweet corn were grown for one or more years in plots near Toledo, Ohio, to test their
performance under borer conditions. A few varieties yielded well in spite of infes-
tations that averaged 10 borers to a stalk.
The 1930 studies showed that dry weather helps to reduce the borer population.
More than three times as many eggs were laid in the Ohio area in 1930 as in 1929,
but dry weather cut the population to about half what it was in 1929. At the same
time, better plowing methods for complete coverage of corn stalks were being devel-
oped by A.L. Young in the Department of Agricultural Engineering, in cooperation with
R.B. Gary, U.S. Department of Agriculture.
It was soon observed that the moths are attracted to the largest corn for egg-
laying, which means that early-planted corn is likely to be most heavily infested.
One count in 1947 showed that almost twice as many eggs were deposited on sweet corn
planted on May 6 as on a second planting made on May 15. Later observations confirm-
ed that on corn only 18 to 20 inches tall (measured by pulling a leaf tip straight
up), 100 borer eggs will usually produce no more than 2 mature borers, whereas on
corn in the early tassel stage, 100 eggs may produce 25 mature borers.
Some imported parasites have proved helpful in corn borer control. One European
parasitic fly (Ly delta stabutans griseoens) , colonized in Illinois in 1944, was cred-
ited with destroying about 40 percent of each brood of borers in 1950.
Several production practices have combined to reduce damage by the European corn
borer to reasonable levels:
1. Destroying infested plant residues and weeds by plowing them under.
2. Proper planting dates, normally not before May 15 on fertile soils in in-
fested areas and not after May 25.
3. Use of hybrid varieties or strains tolerant of the borer.
4. Heavier planting--more plants per acre with appropriate fertilization — thus
distributing the egg cases over a large plant population.
5. Harvesting corn by combine, so that no cobs are stored in cribs to make it
easy for the insect to survive over winter.
If all these practices are followed, and if weather conditions are reasonably
favorable, it is no longer necessary to use insecticides except under emergency conditions.
56
EXPANDED FOOD AND NUTRITION EDUCATION PROGRAM
The Illinois Expanded Food and Nutrition Program, carried out by Home Economics
Extension staff members, is part of a nationwide program originated through spe-
cial funds made available by the USDA, and began in Illinois January 1, 1969 in
18 counties.
The principal objective in Illinois is to help program assistants in the coun-
ties and the persons with whom they work to improve their family diets. Special
attention is given to both rural and urban families with limited income, helping
the homemaker to understand the importance of good nutrition to the well-being of
her family, to develop new skills in food preparation, and to budget her food dol-
lar so as to make the most economical decisions. In an effort to reach the total
family, children as well as adults are taught food and nutrition. In 1974 the
program enrolled about 11,000 families and about 4,000 youth. It was active in
more than a third of the counties. Each month, program assistants were in contact
with about 3,000 families other than regular program participants.
Families that need to be reached by this program seldom attend group meetings, but
most of them will respond to individual visits during which they can receive help
with their specific problems. In 1974 more than 250 people from the low-income
communities were employed as program assistants to make these visits. They received
supervision and training from the local county extension adviser in home economics,
after which they in turn used the neighbor-to-neighbor approach to provide an in-
formal exchange of information during their visits in homes. This approach has
proved highly successful. Program assistants also worked with small groups of
hememakers and with youth in clubs and classes. In addition, they often recruited
and trained volunteers from the target audience to work with adult and youth groups.
The most successful program assistants are likely to be those who live in a
low-income community. They are already familiar with local conditions and are not
overwhelmed by the many problems they find. They want others to know and to be
able to take advantage of what they themselves have learned.
- In general, the program assistants try to explain the principles of good nutri-
tion by teaching the importance of balanced diets, meal planning, how to budget mo-
ney, how to shop economically, safe food handling, sanitation, how to preserve food,
and how to prepare attractive, nutritious, economical meals. They are often able
to help homemakers take advantage of food stamps or other community resources.
Programs vary from county to county, from assistant to assistant, and from fam-
ily to family. And of course results also vary. Some families have shown great im-
provement, others much less. EFNEP has shown that low-income families will respond
when appropriate methods and tools are used. Families have increased the variety
of food eaten, and have improved their nutritional level while operating on limit-
ed budgets. Both adults and youth are beginning to take part in other extension
activities. By and large, extension staff personnel have found their efforts worth-
while and have been well pleased with the overall results.
57
FACTORIAL METHODS OF ESTIMATING NUTRIENT REQUIREMENTS
The factorial approach to the estimation of nutrient requirements of animals was brief-
ly described by H.H. Mitchell in 1929 when he wrote:
The problem of the nutrient requirements of animals is solved satisfactorily only
when it is factored into its ultimate and independent terms. The amount of pro-
tein required to nourish a pregnant heifer in milk cannot be applied directly to
another differing in size, stage of gestation, or rate of milk production, nor
can a satisfactory correction be made for such differences unless the require-
ment for each independent function is known, and some information is at hand rel-
ative to the manner of its change with size, time, or intensity of functioning.
This approach to the estimation of nutrient requirements of various species of
farm animals was used by Mitchell and co-workers with a high degree of success over a
period of many years. Thus if E be the minimum endogenous loss to the animal per day,
determining the maintenance requirement of protein, and G be the daily increment in
tissue nitrogen during growth, the total requirement of conventional net protein by a
growing animal would be, according to the procedure outlined above, Rn = 6.25(E + G),
there being no appreciable requirement of protein for incidental muscular activity.
Other functional activities involving storage or elaboration of protein within
the tissues, as in pregnancy or milk production, would be included in the parentheti-
cal term in the equation as occasion demands.
Carrying the endogenous nitrogen problem a step further, D.B. Smuts, working in
Mitchell's laboratory, and using mice, rats, guinea pigs, rabbits, and pigs, found
that:
1. The total endogenous nitrogen output, and hence the protein requirement for
maintenance, varies more nearly with body surface than with body weight.
2. The close relationship is such that 2 mg. of nitrogen are lost daily for ev-
ery calorie of basal heat. This relationship appears to apply also to the
human species.
3. The endogenous catabolism of an animal (regardless of species) may be esti-
mated in this manner from its basal heat production as accurately as the lat-
ter may be estimated (under the best conditions) from its body surface or
body weight.
58
FARM AND HOME WEEK
Farm and Home Week, as it was called for many years, had its beginning in 1899 when
a group of 17 farmers organized the Illinois Corn Growers' Association. This group
joined with the Illinois Livestock Breeders' Association in holding an annual winter
meeting in Urbana. Under sponsorship of the College of Agriculture, this became
known as the Corngrowers' and Stockmen's Convention, and it so continued until 1922.
Meetings lasted for two weeks, the last or 21st meeting dating from January 16
to 27, 1922. Daily convention sessions were held each morning in the University Au-
ditorium, followed by morning and afternoon sectional meetings on soils, farm crops,
farm mechanics, horticulture, animal husbandry, dairy husbandry, dairy manufactures,
and grain and cattle judging. An evening general or convention session was held in
the Auditorium.
The first meeting to be called Farmers' Week was held January 22-26, 1923. The
printed program contained the following announcement:
For 21 years there has been held annually at the University of Illinois a meet-
ing known as the Corn Growers' and Stockmens' Convention. After careful consid-
eration by all of the interests involved, it has been concluded best to merge
the meeting into a one- week gathering to be known as Farmers' Week. The program
for the week is especially arranged to meet the needs of farmers and farmers'
sons. The farm as a unit will be considered, opening and closing sessions being
devoted to subjects of basic importance to agriculture. Six different sections,
with some 15 class periods each, will be devoted to lectures, discussions, and
demonstrations. You can choose the special topics that will do you the most good
on your farm, and learn new and better ways which can be put into practice in your
farming operations and in your home.
For several years, beginning in 1910, a "School for Housekeepers" was offered by
the Department of Household Science (later Home Economics) . In 1926 the Home Bureau
Federation began participating in the general program, and in 1929 the name was changed
to Farm and Home Week. In 1906 the railroads were offering a special rate of half-
fare plus 25 cents for a round trip from any point in Illinois, and from St. Louis,
Missouri, to Urbana or Champaign. Reduced rates of one and one-half fare (minimum
$1.00) were still being offered in 1923.
During a 10-year period for which records are available, beginning in 1947, total
registration ranged between 3,500 and 5,000 persons, with total attendance at all sec-
tions during the week running about 25,000. Beginning in 1943, arrangements were made
to broadcast as much of the program as possible over the university radio station WILL.
In 1958 the name Farm and Home Week was changed to Farm and Home Festival, and
the time shortened to three days. In 1962 the name was again changed to Farm and Home
Science Show, and the date changed to September 7 and 8. Interest was shifting to
specialized meetings such as Agronomy Day, Cattle Feeders' Day, Swine Growers* Day,
and the like; and no general meetings comparable to Farm and Home Week have been held
since 1962.
59
FARM BUSINESS FARM MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION
The Farm Business Farm Management cooperative project in Illinois was a direct out-
growth of the statewide extension project in farm accounting set up soon after pas-
sage of the Smith-Lever Extension Act in 1914. A farm account book prepared by W.
F. Handschin and H.C.M. Case was made available to cooperating farmers early in 1916.
Farmers were given help in starting the records and in analyzing the results of their
business activity at the end of each year.
As the number of cooperators increased and the value of farm business records
came to be more fully appreciated, it became apparent that many farmers wanted more
detailed assistance with their records, even if they had to pay some of the direct
cost. The first move in this direction was made in January, 1925, when a group of
about 230 farmers met at El Paso and agreed that it would be desirable to form a
four-county association (Livingston, McLean, Tazewell, and Woodford) so that they
might have a well-qualified man working with them on a full-time basis. That man
was M.L. Mosher, who in 1928 returned to the University of Illinois Cooperative Ex-
tension Service to direct the Farm Business Farm Management Associations as they
developed in other parts of the state. He was succeeded as fieldman for the Pioneer
Farm Business Farm Management Association by J.B. Andrews. The next year the num-
ber of cooperators jumped to 420, and W.A. Herrington joined Andrews in serving them.
The service continued to develop until in 1954 there were 24 fieldmen working with
4,400 cooperators, and in 1972 there were 10 associations, with all 102 counites
participating, 43 fieldmen, and 6,800 cooperators.
About one out of every four commercial farmers in Illinois with gross sales of
$40,000 or more enrolls in the service. Participation in the program is voluntary,
and cooperating farmers pay a fee for the educational services rendered. The Asso-
ciation itself is a non-profit organization.
The heart of the service is the fieldman, who may serve as many as 170 coopera-
tors. He makes a minimum of three visits a year to each farm, and while there he
checks the entries in the Farm Business Record to see that inventories are reason-
able, cash transactions properly entered, feed records kept up to date, and other
pertinent information recorded--such as applications of commercial fertilizers, crop
yields, use of pasture, and any other data important in studying the farm business.
After checking the records, the fieldman uses the rest of his visit to help the co-
operator with any problems he may have, such as business management, farm planning,
crop selection, livestock management, farmstead and building investments, and modern
equipment for the home.
At the close of the year the fieldman assists each cooperator in completing his
farm business record, making sure that inventories, cash accounts, feed records, and
miscellaneous data are all complete. In the early years all records were summarized
at the University of Illinois, but now they are totaled in the local areas by cleri-
cal assistants, entered on computer forms, and sent to a central computer facility
for processing. The computer programs are written to prepare for each cooperator
an analysis of his own farm business as shown by his records, and to show how his
farm compares with other farms in the area with respect to various factors that af-
fect efficiency. Additional reports include a balance sheet, a cash flow summary,
and a complete depreciation schedule.
60
Usually three group meetings are held each year: one in the spring to present
some of the findings from the preceding year's records; a tour in the summer to study
problems and methods on the farms of some of the cooperators; and a meeting in De-
cember to discuss current problems, closing of the records, and income tax matters.
An annual summary is issued as a Cooperative Extension Service circular that
covers such matters as farm business trends during the year, crop and livestock prices,
and income changes. Labor and management earnings are shown by size of farm, measured by
acres of tillable land; and by type of farm--grain, hog, beef , or dairy--together with ta-
bles showing the effect of various items on costs and returns. One example of the kind of
summary information contained in the report is the 15-year average returns (1957-1971)
per $100 worth of feed fed to different classes of livestock:
Beef-cow Dairy-cow Feeder Native Feeder Hogs Poultry
herds herds cattle sheep pigs
bought raised
$142 $192 $129 $123 $133 $163 $151
The differences between the average return figure and $100 feed cost represents
the margin available to pay for labor, depreciation on equipment, cash expenses other
than feed, and interest on investment, as well as to provide a profit.
Benefits of this program are reflected in the continuous adjustments taking place
in farm organization on the farms enrolled. These adjustments have resulted in more
specialization on farms and higher net incomes per farm. A sizeable number of the
state's most successful corn, soybean, and hog farms are an outgrowth of this program.
The records continue to show the comparative advantage of producing corn and
soybeans. In 1971 over 60 percent of the farms enrolled were classified as grain
farms. Their average size had increased from 379 acres in 1960 to 552 acres in 1971,
while the average operator's labor and management earnings increased from $5,280 to
$15,269 per farm. More farm families continue to enroll in this program each year,
and they continue to support this cooperative venture with their College of Agricul-
ture in order to insure the flow of relevant educational information.
61
FARM COST ACCOUNTING
Detailed farm cost accounting was initiated by W.F. Handschin while he was a member
of the staff in the Department of Animal Husbandry, and the first complete calendar-
year cost records were gathered in Franklin and Hancock Counties in 1913. Franklin
was chosen to represent southern Illinois diversified farming, and Hancock represented
beef cattle and hog farming. The work was gradually expanded to include all of the
principal types of farming in the state, and later to involve a number of single-
enterprise cost studies.
The total-farm cost studies involved detailed study of all enterprises on the
farm. This required financial records of sales and purchases for each enterprise;
physical records of crop and livestock production and of feed used by livestock;
daily diaries of labor, power, and capital items; and inventory records of livestock,
feed, capital, and land. Reports of these studies included costs of producing crops,
livestock, labor, power, and machine services.
The single-enterprise and single power or machine service studies were similar
in concept, except that they involved only records of those costs associated with a
particular enterprise or machine,
Each cooperating farmer was visited by a fieldman at the beginning of the year
to assist with the beginning inventory and to make sure that the necessary record
keeping was understood by the person who was to maintain the detailed accounts and
other records. Farm visits by the fieldman continued throughout the year until the
closing inventory was made and the records sent to Urbana to summarizing. Up to and
including 1922, farmer cooperators were visited by a fieldman once a month. Later
the practice was to make five visits a year.
The major objectives of the various cost studies were:
1. To obtain a workable set of standards for quantities of labor, power, feed,
etc., per acre and per animal unit for use in farm planning.
2. To learn the effect of yield per acre on cost per unit of crop production
the effect of pounds of feed per unit of livestock production on returns from live-
stock and the effect of varying levels of production per animal unit on the cost per
unit of production.
3. To learn the effect of size of field on hours of labor required per acre
and per unit of crop production.
4. To learn what effect the quality of land has on yield of the crop grown
and how quality is related to the individual items of cost.
5. To determine labor costs under the several farming systems and the sources
of labor- -farm operator, family, or hired.
6. To learn the effect of annual hours of use on tractor cost per hour and the
effect of miles driven on truck cost per mile.
7. To measure the acre costs of individual power-drawn field machines in re-
lation to the number of acres covered yearly.
Numerous staff members and graduate students have been involved in these studies.
Leaders have been R.H. Wilcox, A.G. Mueller, and R.A. Hinton.
62
8. To learn the effect on farm returns of such variables as system of farming,
soil productivity rating, topography, size of business, and kind and amount of live-
stock .
Although the cost studies were initiated to help cooperating farmers make wise
decisions affecting the operation of their individual farms, the accumulated records
have provided a basis for numerous research studies, the results of which could be
disseminated for much wider use. The yearly summaries have been useful in on-campus
teaching and in answering questions raised by many farmers not actively involved in
the record-keeping program.
Publications
The following Experiment Station Bulletins and Agricultural Economics Research
Reports are representative of the type of material made available from the sixty years
of detailed farm cost accounting.
Bulletin 277. Cost of Producing Field Crops in Three Areas of Illinois, 1913-1922.
30p. June, 1926
Bulletin 374. Management Factors that Influence Farm Profits in Southern Illinois.
A study based on records from more than a hundred farms in the wheat
and dairy area neighboring St. Louis. 56p. October, 1931
Bulletin 395. A Study of the Cost of Horse and Tractor Power on Illinois Farms.
68p. December, 1933
Bulletin 428. Soybean Costs and Production Practices. 48p. December, 1936
Bulletin 444. Farm Practices and Their Effects on Farm Earnings. 136p. August, 1938
Bulletin 467. Twenty-five Years of Illinois Crop Costs, 1913-1937. 98p. August, 1940
Bulletin 486. Poultry Costs and Profits. A six-year study of general farm flocks
and semi -commercial flocks. 32p. April, 1942
Bulletin 511. Cost of Producing Milk in Northern Illinois. 24p. June, 1945
Bulletin 515. Cost of Producing Milk in the Illinois Portion of the St. Louis Milk-
shed. 24p. August, 1945
Bulletin 609. Field Crop Costs and Returns, 1948-1954. A study of costs and returns
in four major type-of- farming areas of Illinois. 42p. March, 1957
Bulletin 647. Economic Performance of Commercial Laying Flocks on Illinois Farms.
44p. November, 1959
Agricultural Economics Research Reports
AERR 15. Detailed Cost Report for Northern Illinois, 1955. 38p.
AERR 21. Same for. 1956. 40p.
AERR 28. Same for Heavy Till Soils in Central Illinois, 1957. 40p.
AERR 32. Same for 1958. 40p.
AERR 42. Detailed Cost Report for Central Illinois, 1959. 26p.
AERR 48. Same for 1960. 30p.
AERR 85. Same for Central and Western Illinois, 1964 and 1965. 36p .
63
Total-Farm Detailed Cost Studies
Years
Type of Farm
Ave . number
of farms
Area
1913-22 Diversified grain
and mixed livestock
1923-25 Beef cattle and hog
1924-26 Dairy
1924-25 Dairy
1926-28 Dairy
1920-47 Cash grain and
mixed livestock
1948-49 Grain, hog, feeder
cattle-hog, beef cat
tie-hog, dairy-hog
1949-50 Dairy-hog, feeder
cattle-hog
1951-52 Grain, hog, feeder
cattle-hog
1953-54 Dairy, mixed live-
stock and grain
1955-56 Dairy
1955-56 Feeder cattle-hog
1957-58 Grain, dairy-poultry
and fatstock
1959-60 Grain and mixed live-
stock
1964-65 Specialized hog
16
18
10
10
18
24
37
39
38
46
7
33
37
38
40
Franklin, Hancock
Knox, Warren
DuPage, Lake Stephenson
Clinton, Madison, Washington
Clinton
Champaign, Piatt
Henry, Knox, Mercer, Peoria,
Rock Island, and Stark
Carroll, Jo Daviess, Ogle, Steph-
enson, Whiteside, Winnebago
Cass, Logan, Mason, Menard,
Morgan , Sangamon
Bond, Clay, Clinton, Crawford,
Effingham, Fayette, Jasper, Madi-
son, Marion, Richland, St. Clair,
Washington
DeKalb, Kane, McHenry
Bureau, DeKalb, Kendall, LaSalle,
Lee
Ford, Iroquois, Livingston,
McLean, Vermilion
Champaign, Coles, DeWitt, Doug-
las, Macon, Moultrie, Piatt
Cass, Douglas, Ford, Fulton, Knox,
Livingston, Logan, McDonough, McLean
Mercer, Menard, Peoria, Sangamon,
Tazewell, Warren, Woodford
64
Single-Enterprise Cost Studies
Year
Enterprise
Ave. number
of farms
Area
1925-38 Fruit and vegetables
1927-28 Dairy
1928-29
1932-37
1936-37
1937
1938-39
1945-47
1954
1962
1971
Year
30
1928-29 Dairy
Soybeans
Poultry laying flocks
Dairy
Sweet corn
Dairy
Turkeys
Poultry laying hens
100
30
90
56
93
16
118
Vegetable crops
Vegetable crops
Jackson, Jefferson, Johnson, Marion,
Pulaski, Williamson
Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry,
and Will
Boone, Jo Daviess, LaSalle, Lee,
Ogle, Peoria, Stephenson, Vermilion
Central and southern Illinois
All areas
12 counties of northern Illinois
Central and southern Illinois
12 counties of southwestern Illinois
in St. Louis milk shed
Scattered over Illinois
Cook, DeKalb, Kane, Will in north;
Ford, Iroquois, Livingston, Ver-
milion, Woodford in central; Effing-
ham, Fayette, St. Clair, Washington
in south
9 counties in northeastern Illinois
9 counties in northeastern Illinois
Item
Special Farm Power and Machine Cost Studies
Ave . number
of farms
Area
1927-28 Grain combine harvester 73
1931 Horse 35
1931-32 Farm tractor 65
1937 2-row mechanical corn 96
picker
1942-43 Pick baler vs. loose hay 24
1951 Farm field crop sprayers 47
1954-55 Picker-sheller and corn 77
combine and artificial
corn dryers
All areas
Central Illinois
Central Illinois
East-central Illinois
East-central Illinois
Christian, Henry, Livingston
Central and northern Illinois
65
FARM INCOME TAX SCHOOLS
The Cooperative Extension Service has offered annual farm income tax schools for more
than thirty years. In 1940 two such schools were held, one in Springfield and one
in DeKalb, with M.L. Mosher and R.C. Ross, respectively, representing the College
of Agriculture. Beginning in 1943, four schools were held annually, in DeKalb, Cham-
paign, Jacksonville, and Mt . Vernon. In 1957 two more were added, in Galesburg and
Vandalia. From 1962 on, the number gradually increased until in 1977 there were 23
schools held, with a total enrollment of 3,976 persons, representing every county
in Illinois, as well as some nearby states.
R.C. Ross continued in charge of the schools until 1955, when G.B. Whitman took
over the responsibility. Since 1961, Fay M. Sims, has been in charge, with assis-
tance from A.R. Allen, Charles Whalen, Joseph Henderson, and C. Allen Bock. Professor
Bock has been largely responsible for the preparation of the workbook, school agenda,
teacher preparation, visual aids, evaluation, and selection of reference materials.
The schools are designed for tax practitioners and consultants who enroll in ad-
vance, and are not open to the general public. The schools were given without cost
to participants until 1967, when a $4 enrollment fee was charged. In 1977 the fee
was $25, which covered all tax school expenses except salary and travel costs (mile-
age, room, meals) of personnel (Cooperative Extension Service, Internal Revenue Serv-
ice t and Illinois Department of Revenue). Collectively, the persons who attended
the 1977 schools prepared about a million federal income tax returns, and three-
quarters of a million state returns, mostly for farm people.
Since early 1950, the Internal Revenue Service has joined with the Cooperative
Extension Service in presenting these schools. The IRS has not only provided excel-
lent instructors, but has assisted with the planning and preparation of teaching
materials. Since 1969, with the passage of the Illinois income tax law, the Illinois
Department of Revenue has also joined in the tax school effort by providing instruc-
tors and helping with planning and with teaching materials. This support by IRS and
IDR has enabled the Cooperative Extension Service to continue with expansion of the
tax school program.
A better understanding of tax problems of farmers and of filing requirements is
acquired by practitioners attending the schools; this results in fewer errors and a
higher percentage of properly prepared returns. With tax laws and filing specifica-
tions increasing in both number and complexity, this is a significant benefit to
both the taxpayers and the Internal Revenue Service. Perhaps as many as half of the
enrollees attend the schools because there is no other place where they can obtain
specific and complete information and instructions for preparing them.
The Workbook
For several years a comprehensive loose-leaf workbook of about 300 pages has been
prepared by the Cooperative Extension Service as a basis for the instruction given
in the two-day schools. The 1977 workbook consisted of an introduction rind eleven
chapters titled as follows:
66
Capital Gains and Losses
What ' s New
Retirement Plans
Comprehensive Farm Problem
Effects of 1976 Tax Reform
1977 Tax Simplification
Back to Basics
Partnership Balance Sheet
Tax Practitioner Liability
Investment Credit
Tax Basis Calculation
There was also a directory and reference section.
Evaluation
Each year enrol lees are asked to complete an evaluation form. This information
is then used as a basis for future planning.
The format and plan of the Illinois farm income tax schools have spread to other
states which, in turn, are patterning their programs after the Illinois plan. Follow-
ing a pilot school on the Purdue University campus in 1969, for example, Purdue Co-
operative Extension Service, Indianapolis IRS, and Indiana Department of Revenue or-
ganized their own schools. In 1971, Michigan State University and Detroit IRS fol-
lowed the Illinois lead and organized their first schools. In 1973, the Cooperative
Extension Services of the University of Wisconsin and Virginia Polytechnic Institute
reorganized their tax schools along the Illinois pattern. By 1977, fourteen states
besides Illinois were purchasing and using the Illinois workbook. In 1971, the
Chicago Association of Commerce and Industry organized the first urban tax seminars
in the Chicago metropolitan area patterned after the farm schools, and used the work-
book as the main text.
Workshops for Beginning Income Tax Preparers
In 1971, Donald L. Doerr, area extension adviser in farm management, developed
plans and materials for a three-day workshop for beginning income tax preparers.
The pilot workshop was presented on the Cooperative Extension Service TeleNet System
at three locations--Benton, Carbondale, and Dixon Springs, with 21 beginners attend-
ing. Within two years beginners' workshops were being offered to the entire state via
TeleNet.
67
FARM LEASING PRACTICES
In some counties in east-central Illinois about 75 percent of all farmland is operat-
ed under lease, while in the southern part of the state nearly 60 percent of the farms
are owner-operated. This sort of difference reflects such characteristics as the
price of land, type and productivity of soil, size of farms, type of farming (whether
cash-grain or livestock), and percentage of rough and urttillable land in the area.
Where mixed farming prevails, as in western Illinois, about one-fourth of the farms
are operated by part-owners who own part and rent part of the land they operate.
Studies were made of farm leasing practices in a total of 58 counties represent-
ing the three areas. (See Station Bulletins 677, 728, and 745 by F.J. Reiss.) Some
1,200 questionnaires completed by a random sample of both tenants and landlords in
each area were studied, to provide what might be called a farm-rental market report
which would be helpful to both landlords and tenants in working out details of lease
arrangements.
Individual farms vary considerably in the rent they can command because they dif-
fer in soil productivity, in kind and amount of improvements, and in how well they
satisfy the demand for land in the locality when they come on the rental market.
There are differences too among tenants in the amount of machinery and livestock they
have, in their age and experience, and in the amount of family labor they have avail-
able. All of these things are of basic importance in working out a lease that will
prove satisfactory to both parties.
East-Central Illinois
The important lease types in east-central Illinois are crop-share and crop-share-
cash, accounting for more than 80 percent of all leases in the area. Livestock-share
leases account for 13 percent. Because the values of the contributions made by both
parties are approximately equal--land and improvements by the landlord, and labor, pow-
er, and machinery by the tenant--the prevailing rent shares on grain crops are almost
exclusively half and half. Such variable costs as crop seeds, annual application of
fertilizers, and insect control are shared in the same way. Initial applications of
limestone and rock phosphate are commonly paid by the landlord, with repeat or main-
tenance applications frequently being shared equally by tenant and landlord.
Livestock- share leases, in which the landlord has a half interest in the major
livestock enterprises and receives half of the livestock returns, commonly provide
for an equal sharing of such costs as legume and grass seeds, hay baling and silo fill-
ing, weed control chemicals, livestock expense and purchased feed, and feed grinding.
Some livestock equipment such as self-feeders, waterers, and water heaters may also
be shared. Power and fuel costs are shared in a variety of ways.
Three out of every four landlords are farmers, retired farmers, or widows of farm-
ers or have had some farm experience, and most live within 5 0 miles of the leased
property. In general, both tenants and landlords seemed satisfied with their lease
agreements, as only one out of eight made suggestions for changes when returning the
questionnaires.
68
Western Illinois
The same types of farm leases were found as in east-central Illinois, but livestock-
share leases accounted for a much larger proportion of farmland because more of the
farms were livestock farms. Livestock-share leases often assumed partnership aspects,
as indicated by the fact that most landlords shared equally in all major enterprises
and in directly related costs. Many livestock-share landlords also shared in owner-
ship of machinery and equipment.
About 40 percent of the landlords were women. Almost 90 percent of the landlords
lived within an hour's drive of their property.
The period of study was one of rapid technological change, but proportional shar-
ing of costs and returns tended to keep leases both viable and equitable, as well as
to provide tenants with enough tenure security to encourage them to adopt much of the
new and improved technology.
Southern Illinois
In contrast to the other two areas, the most common tenure pattern in the 23
counties in southern Illinois was one of owner operation. In spite of this, about 45
percent of all farmland in the area is under lease because many farm operators rent
land in addition to that which they own. Most rented tracts are relatively small,
averaging less than a quarter-section each. Furthermore, less than a third of the
leaseholds involve tracts with buildings. This often means that a tenant must rent
from more than one owner in order to have enough acreage for profitable operation.
The average tenant deals with three different landlords.
Over half the owners surveyed were 65 years old or older, nearly 40 percent were
women, and nearly 40 percent were related in some way to the tenant. Cash leases ac-
counted for less than 10 percent of the leaseholds studied, primarily because of the
high production risk in the area.
Informality seems to be the rule for farm rental in this part of the state, as
only a small fraction of the rental arrangements involved a written lease and many
tenants were unable to specify a date for the beginning of the lease-year on their
rented properties. Since the area includes a portion of the Ozark uplift, one might
hazard the guess that this informality in farm business dealings is an example of the
background of mutual trust among many mountain people, who live in areas where most
families tend to be well known to each other.
69
FAT-CORRECTED MILK
In the early 1920's W.L. Gaines in the Department of Dai ry Husbandry, assisted by
F.A. Davidson, used 23,303 records of milk and fat production from cow-testing asso-
ciations in Illinois and advanced registry records from several breed associations
to develop a formula for estimating the energy value of mi Ik- -a formula that has been
used internationally for more than 50 years.
It had long been a matter of common knowledge among dairymen that, in general,
the milk yields of cows tended to vary inversely with the percentage fat content of
the milk; but it was felt that a mathematical formula expressing the relationship
would be useful. Assuming that the milk yield of cows with varying fat percentages
is such that the total energy value of the milk is constant if the effects of all
factors other than composition are equalized, the question then became: ''What is the
influence of composition on milk yield?" Since there is a high correlation (about
0.9) between fat content and solids-not-fat content in normal milk, the authors were
able to derive a satisfactory equation for "fat-corrected milk" in pounds:
FCM = (bnergy yield)/ (Energy of 1 pound of 4-percent milk)
= (132. 06M + 4964F)/330.62
= 0.4M + 15F
Where M is actual milk yield n pounds and F is actual fat yield in pounds.
In summary, the milk yields of cows may be corrected for the influence of fat
content, to arrive at the physiological equivalent of 4-pcrcent milk by the equation:
FCM = .4M + 15F
Details are given in Station Bulletin 245, June, 1923.
70
FEEDING STANDARDS FOR LAMBS
Some of the first work ever done on determining nutritive requirements for growth in
Shropshire lambs by chemical carcass analyses was carried out in 1931-32 by H.H.
Mitchell, T.S. Hamilton, and W.G. Kammlade. Analyses of both rams and ewes were made
at successive weights between 20 and 140 pounds. From these data it was possible to
follow the changes in body composition with age; to compute the percentage composition
of the gains in weight put on at different ages; and to estimate the daily increments
in protein, energy, calcium, and phosphorus.
These increments measured the nutritive requirements for growth, and showed for
the first time that the then current feeding standards included more protein than is
actually needed for lambs weighing more than 50 pounds. On the other hand, the data
indicated that a more liberal allowance of total digestible nutrients than was being
recommended would be desirable.
Growth of wool was determined by shearing all lambs before slaughter and weigh-
ing and analyzing the fleece. Growth of wool was very slow up to an age of about six
weeks, but then increased rapidly up to about three months in rams and to five or six
months in ewes. Although the gross energy added daily to the fleece made up only a
small percentage of the total energy retained, never more than 16 percent, the wool
accounted for 30 to 40 percent of the total protein additions during the period of
active wool growth. For each 1,000 pounds of live weight of young rams weighing 50
pounds, nearly half a pound of protein was added daily to the fleece.
71
FILM PACKAGING OF HEAT-PROCESSED ORANGE JUICE PRODUCTS
During the early 1950' s A.I. Nelson and M.P. Steinberg in the Department of Food
Science made extended studies of the feasibility of using film packages for heat-
processed foods. Many different films were compared to find those that
were suitable, including such characteristics as ability to withstand steam
temperatures of 250° F., minimum gas and water-vapor permeability, heat penetration
of the film, and effect of the film itself on color or flavor of various food prod-
ucts. They also developed methods of testing film bags for leaks, and measuring
the strengths of various films and seals at processing and storage temperatures.
Following these basic studies, they undertook further research involving film
packaging of heat-processed orange juice products, using various processing proce-
dures and storage conditions. Freshly squeezed juice from Florida oranges was com-
pared with a completely synthetic product composed of 8.0 percent sucrose, 1.0 per-
cent citric acid, 0.7 percent potassium citrate, 0.03 percent (by volume) cold
pressed oil of orange, and 90 percent water. Several preservatives were evaluated
as additions. Sorbic acid and sodium benzoate were found to be undesirable, while
sulfur dioxide was advantageous in preventing juice deterioration. Of the several
processing temperatures tested, 210° F. proved best for single-strength juice and
220° F. for concentrated juice.
Peel oil, naturally present in orange juice, did not cause any deterioration
of flavor, but the effect of orange juice pulp suggested that filtering the raw
juice might be desirable. Since the films used were transparent, the influence of
light was studied and found to be without effect on quality.
Storage studies covered a period of twenty weeks, with canned juice products
used as controls. The addition of 200 ppm of sulfur dioxide to orange juice, and
storage at low temperature (36° F.) greatly retarded deterioration. Juice packed
in Saran or in aluminum-polyethylene pouches was acceptable after five months of
storage. Concentrated juice tended to maintain better overall quality than single-
strength juice.
Conclusions were that is is feasible to package orange juice, or preferably
orange juice concentrate, for heat processing in pouches made from Saran or aluminum
polyethylene. Juice in these pouches should maintain a quality comparable to
that in cans during storage for five months at 36° F. If sulfur dioxide is added
at the rate of 200 ppm to juice packed in aluminum-polyethylene or Saran, the juice
can be held for five months at temperatures as high as 74° F.
72
FOOD FLAVORS STUDIED BY MASS SPECTROMETRY
Years ago when chemists tried to isolate and identify the flavor chemicals of fruits
they needed literally tons of a particular fruit in order to get enough of a given
chemical to work with. Now, by the use of a mass spectrometer and gas chromatography,
nearly all of the constituents of a fruit may be studied from a much smaller sample--
even as small as a single strawberry. This kind of equipment is used in the Burnsides
Research Laboratory.
The mass spectrometer is a complicated instrument which works as follows: A va-
por of the substance being studied is introduced into an ionization chamber, where it
is bombarded by a beam of electrons. This breaks each molecule into a number of small-
er fragments (ions) whose nature depends upon the chemical structure of the original
molecule. The positively charged particles are then repelled from the ionization
chamber by another positive charge, and the resultant beam of ions is further accel-
erated by an applied voltage. The ion beam then passes through a narrow slit into a
magnetic field, where the ions are deflected.
The degree of deflection depends on the mass of the individual ions, so that they
are separated into several beams, each containing ions of one mass-to-charge ratio.
The various beams are scanned and brought into focus on an appropriate recording de-
vice, and the spectrum can then be interpreted according to the abundance of the var-
ious fragment ions.
A gas chromatograph used in connection with the other equipment makes it possi-
ble to work with very small samples, giving results that would be impossible to ob-
tain by any other means. Hence flavor in foods can be studied when the concentrations
of the chemicals involved are so small that they must be measured in parts per million.
Researchers are also interested in the chemicals responsible for off-flavors that
may render a food unacceptable. Once the chemicals causing such off -flavors have
been identified by mass spectrometry, it may then be possible to find ways of prevent-
ing their development.
Although this type of equipment is not a cure-all, it is a powerful research
tool for many kinds of agricultural research.
73
4-H CLUB WORK
The name 4-H was not officially adopted until after passage of the Smith-Lever Act
in 1914, but boys' and girls* clubs had been organized and functioning for several
years. The movement got its start in Macoupin County when Will B. Otwell interested
about 500 boys in a corn-growing contest. He gave each boy one ounce of the best
seed corn obtainable, with the understanding that the boy would show a sample of
his crop at the Farmers' Institute to be held in Carlinville in the fall of 1899. The
boys came to the court house on the opening day of the institute, each with a ten-
ear exhibit of corn. More than 500 farmers were also present.
Interest in the program quickly spread to other counties, and an exhibit of
corn at the 1903 St. Louis World's Fair, supervised by Mr. Otwell. contained ten-
ear samples of corn from 1,250 Illinois farm boys from among the 50.000 who had par-
ticipated in that year's corn-growing contest.
O.J. Kern, county superintendent of schools in Winnebago County, organized corn
clubs in local schools and gave much impetus to the club idea. By 1910. considerable
interest had also developed in pig and calf club work for boys and in canning clubs
for girls.
War conditions stimulated a rapid expansion of the 4-H Club program, and farm
boys and girls made a real and substantial contribution to the food production of
the nation. After the war, however, there was a decided slump in club membership,
and not until 1930 did enrollment again pass the 10,000 mark. From then on, member-
ship grew to 37,682 in 1940, 54,407 in 1950, and 73,051 in 1960.
74
FRUIT CRACKING RESISTANCE IN TOMATOES
Fruit cracking has long been a serious problem for commercial producers of tomatoes
as well as a minor problem for home gardeners. Cracked fruits are easily invaded by
decay-causing organisms, and the cracks offer a convenient place for fruit flies to
deposit their eggs. Even if neither of these conditions develops, cracked fruits
result in costly trimming losses in the canning factory.
Researchers in the Department of Horticulture undertook to find a laboratory
method of identifying crack-resistance fruits. One approach was to soak the detach-
ed fruits in a water bath of controlled uniform temperature. The release of air
bubbles from the stem end when tomatoes were gently squeezed under water suggested
that partial vacuum might be used as a testing method. Fruits so treated absorbed
water as soon as the vacuum was released, and promptly cracked in both radial and
concentric patterns similar to those observed in the field.
The next step was to cross two unrelated lines that had been found relatively
resistant by the vacuum- immersion test, and to make selections for resistance among
the F2 plants. The two lines chosen were Cornell 59-400 and Campbell Soup Company
Kcl09. Progenies grown from selected F plants resulted in types with both higher
and lower resistance to cracking than had been found in the parents. At all vacuum
levels used, the resistant selections were more highly resistant to cracking than
the parental lines from which they were developed. It was concluded that selection
for the highest levels of resistance can be most effectively accomplished at a vac-
uum of about 10 inches of mercury.
75
FUNK AWARDS RECOGNITION PROGRAM
The Paul A. Funk Recognition Program was established in June, 1970, through an agree-
ment between the Paul A. Funk Foundation of Bloomington, Illinois, and the College of
Agriculture. The Foundation agreed to provide the College with certain funds annual-
ly, which would be used to honor outstanding faculty members for their service to
agriculture. The College agreed to accept these funds through the University of Il-
linois Foundation and to select the faculty members to be honored.
The recognition program is a memorial to the late Paul A. Funk, who died in
1967. A principal in the Funk Bros. Seed Co., Paul Funk spent his life in agricul-
ture. He attended the University of Illinois College of Agriculture as a member of
the class of 1929.
As stated by the trustees of the Funk Foundation, the purpose of the program is
"to recognize outstanding performance and high achievement among the faculty of the
College of Agriculture at the University of Illinois as they work for the betterment
of the total field of agriculture—agriculture being described in its broadest con-
notations. It is also the expectation that this program will serve as a stimulus for
excellence in teaching, research, and extension."
To be eligible for an award, a person must hold an appointment in the College
of Agriculture, and must have been on the faculty for at least five years. The num-
ber of recipients in any one year may be no less than three and no more than five.
Each award winner receives an unrestricted personal grant of $1,500 and a certifi-
cate. Papers by each of the winners are published annually.
According to procedures established by the College, any student or faculty mem-
ber of the College of Agriculture may nominate a candidate for the award. The nomi-
nees are evaluated by one or more of three screening committees named by the educa-
tion, research, and extension policy committees of the College. Final selections are
made by a committee composed of the vice chairman of the Faculty Executive Committee,
one member of each screening committee, and three at-large members named by the Fac-
ulty Executive Committee. Recipients in 1971, the first year of the award, were D.E.
Alexander, H.W. Hannah, H.B. Petty, H.G. Russell, and G.W. Salisbury.
76
GENE INTERACTION AND THE A-0 AND H BLOOD-GROUP SYSTEMS IN PIGS
The A-0 system of blood groups in pigs is analogous to the R-0 system of sheep and
the ABO system in man; and genetic studies have shown that at least two gene loci
are involved in the expression of A and 0. Results of classification by B. A. Ras-
musen in the Department of Animal Science of red blood cells of pigs for A and 0
and also for the H factor, indicate that alleles at the locus for the H blood-group
system are involved in determination of phenotypes for A and 0.
A total of 1,533 blood samples from adult Duroc, Yorkshire, and Duroc-Yorkshire
crossbred pigs were tested for A and 0 in the A-0 system, and for H in the H sys-
tem. Results of these tests show that the H-system genotype influences expression
of A and 0, but effects differed depending upon the breed.
Hemolytic anti-A (A reagent C4, a diluted normal serum from a Hereford cow) and
hemolytic anti-0 (0 reagent Gl, a diluted normal serum from a female goat) were used
with rabbit complement to determine A and 0 types for 611 Duroc pigs, 598 Yorkshire
pigs, and 324 pigs which originated from a Duroc x Yorkshire crossbred foundation of
the same animals from which the Durocs and Yorkshires were descended. These pigs
were from six successive generations and were typed during the years 1964 to 1972.
They were also typed for the H factor, in a destran agglutination test in which 1/60
ml of a 2-percent suspension or red blood cells was mixed with 1/30 ml of anti-H
(H reagent P57, a diluted isoimmune antiserum from a female pig) and 1/40 ml of
Dextran 6 percent (w/v) in saline, and allowed to incubate at 24° C. in covered micro-
titer plates. Tests were read after three hours and checked after five hours of in-
cubation. Blood types for all of the 1,533 pigs were determined when the pigs were
weanlings 4 to 6 weeks old and again when they were about one year old.
The difference found between Yorkshires and Durocs in the relationship between
H and A-0 types may be due to different frequencies of alleles in the H system in
the two breeds. Six different H-system alleles are known, and it seems likely that
different alleles differ in their effects on expression of A and 0. When only blood
factor H in the H system is identified, only two genetic types can be distinguished,
and each of these may include a combination of genotypes in Durocs and in Yorkshires.
Tests of red blood cells with more reagents for A and 0 and for more H-system factors
should make it possible to elucidate the interaction of alleles at the H and A-0 lo-
ci.
At any rate, it seems clear that A-0 types should be considered when analyzing
segregation ratios and changes in gene frequencies, as well as in analysis of the
significance of blood types for productive and reproductive traits.
77
GENETIC IMMUNITY TO APPLE SCAB
Apple scab has long been a serious problem for growers in Illinois and elsewhere, al-
though varying degrees of control are possible by carefully timed applications of fun-
gicidal chemicals. A new approach to control resulted when Illinois workers in hor-
ticulture discovered genetic immunity to the causal organism, Venturia inaequalis, in
small- fruited ornamental crabapples. This provided the basis for cooperative research
with the Department of Botany and Plant Pathology at the Purdue Agricultural Experi-
ment Station and the Department of Horticulture at the New Jersey Agricultural Exper-
iment Station.
The genes located proved to be completely effective, regardless of the genetic
backgrounds into which they were introduced, and this has made it possible to develop
types suitable for commercial apple production. Research has been accelerated by the
fact that susceptible individuals among greenhouse seedlings can be identified and
eliminated when they are less than one month old.
The research results have stimulated worldwide interest, and scientists from
Canada, England, France, Sweden, West Germany, Holland, Poland, Japan, and Australia
have come to Urbana to learn methods and techniques and to arrange for exchange of
germ plasm. The Union of South Africa was supplied with sufficient germ plasm in the
form of seeds to start a major program in that country. All of this activity led to
the formation of an organization called the Apple Breeders Cooperative, to facilitate
the rapid exchange of new information and germ plasm, and for controlled testing of
potential scab-immune cultivars. Experiment stations in the United States, Canada,
England, France, and Sweden are represented.
At least five different races of Venturia inaequalis are known; and since the
resistant genes are non-allelic, the development of lines carrying two or more non-
allelic genes for immunity should provide considerable assurance against inroads of
the scab problem in commercial orchards. Even so, it must be remembered that new
races with greater virulence may arise in the future.
The first commercial apple variety immune to scab was introduced in 1969 in co-
operation with the Agricultural Experiment Stations of Indiana and New Jersey, and
the Illinois Horticultural Experiment Station. This variety, named Prima, is a high-
quality dessert apple with good shelf life, and matures four weeds earlier than Deli-
cious. The immunity to apple scab which it carries was inherited through several gen-
erations of breeding from Malus flovibunda, an ornamental crab with 3/8-inch inedible
fruit. Prima is also resistant to fire blight, apple blotch, and apple mildew.
A second scab-immune variety was introduced in 1972 under the name of Priscilla.
Its scab immunity is derived from the same source as that of Prima, and it is also
resistant to fireblight, blotch, and mildew. Priscilla is a high-quality red dessert
apple, ripening about 2-1/2 weeks earlier than Delicious. These two varieties, plant-
ed together for cross-pollination, give orchardists the option of growing large blocks
of scab- immune trees.
78
GENETIC VULNERABILITY
Plant and animal breeding sometimes results in such uniformity as to make strains
of either plants or animals peculiarly susceptible to new disease or parasitic or-
ganisms.
Many plant breeding improvements are normally accompanied by a drop in genetic
diversity, and this brings an increased risk of economic loss from some new para-
site, insect pest, or unusual environmental stress. If the hybrid affected is grown
on a limited acreage, losses will be comparatively limited, but if it is grown ex-
tensively, as in the case of wheat and maize, the losses incurred are corresponding-
ly increased. One obvious course of action is to restore some of the genetic diver-
sity by developing new and unrelated types that are resistant to or tolerant of the
new hazard, whatever it may be.
If uniformity is the crux of genetic vulnerability, diversity is the best in-
surance against it. Since the market demands uniformity in commercial crops, the
challenge to the plant breeder is to provide diversity. He must build redundancy
into a back-up system. So far, this challenge has been met by searching for new
genes and by developing gene pools to preserve the valuable genes already known.
Scattered over the globe are innumerable varieties of many plants adapted to local
conditions. These can be collected to serve as a source of miscellaneous genes for
disease resistance or other attributes.
Spontaneous mutations can also be very useful. Most crop plant mutants are off-
type and are rarely saved by farmers. Occasionally someone does, as in 1922 when
a farmer near Enfield, Connecticut, observed an ear of corn in his field that had a
peculiar appearance- -it was opaque, not translucent. Knowing that Singleton and
Jones at New Haven were saving peculiar corn types, he sent it to them. They named
it Opaque-2 and held it in their gene pool for 40 years. Mertz and Nelson at Purdue
University found it be the source of a gene for high lysine, and therefore of sig-
nificant potential for improving the nutritive value of corn. An occasional useful
mutation can be empirically induced by treating plant parts with ultraviolet radia-
tion, X-rays, gamma rays, or chemical mutagens.
CORN LEAF BLIGHT
The epidemic of corn leaf blight in 1970 provides a good example of genetic vul-
nerability. The corn crop fell victim to the epidemic because of a quirk in the
technology that had redesigned the corn plants of America until, in one sense, they
had become as alike as identical twins. Whatever made one plant susceptible made
them all susceptible.
The key word is uniformity — the plants were uniform in that special sense, and
uniformity in a crop is an essential prerequisite to genetic vulnerability. It was
not hybrid vigor as such that was responsible for the corn epidemic, but rather a
phase of the technology in making use of hybrid vigor.
When the epidemic struck in Florida in the early spring of 1970 and spread north-
ward in the wake of the greening wave of that year, two facts stood out: (1) Not
79
all corn was infected, only those plants that were descended from parents carrying
what is known as Texas cytoplasm; and (2) the fungus responsible was Helminthosporium
maydis.
Cytoplasm is the complex substance that fills every living cell, from bacteria
to man. In it are to be found all the minute components of the cell—nucleus, chrom-
osomes, mitochondria, oil globules, and so on. Its composition varies somewhat
among species and varieties of living organisms, but to the extent that it deter-
mines susceptibility to blight, it is the same in every plant of the Texas strain
of corn wherever it is grown, and in 1970 it was grown by nearly every corn farmer
in America.
Helminthosporium maydis had been present in American corn fields ever since,
and probably before, the days when Squanto showed the Pilgrims how to plant the crop.
The very name Helminthosporium means that the reproductive bodies, called spores,
resemble microscopic, segmented round worms (helminths) and maydis means that it
occurs on maize. Before 1970 Helminthosporium sometimes blighted a few leaves and
rotted a few ears, but it was not considered very important. It doubtless mu-
tated from time to time, as all organisms do, and it probably produced more viru-
lent strains now and then. Those strains, if they arose, tended to die out because
American corn was too variable to give the new strain a very good foothold.
The introduction of Texas cytoplasm changed all this by making corn nearly uni-
form throughout the country so far as its cytoplasm was concerned. While the tech-
nology of using T cytoplasm was being developed and spread across the nation, H.
maydis continued to mutate. In due time, one of its mutant forms proved ideal for
T cytoplasm and spread like wildfire across the cornfields.
COFFEE RUST
The economic and cultural consequences of a plant disease are well illustrated
by the coffee rust. In 1870 Ceylon was the leading coffee nation of the world, ex-
porting 100,000,000 pounds annually, but by 1885 it was unable to export a single
bag. The Oriental Bank failed, and the British became a nation of tea drinkers.
Meanwhile, entrepreneurs had introduced coffee plants to South America, using vege-
tative cuttings from susceptible but disease-free plants. Since there was no rust,
the industry flourished, and the peoples of North and South America became coffee
drinkers, with the economy of several nations depending on that fact. Except for
one scare in Puerto Rico, the western hemisphere remained free of coffee rust un-
til 1969, when the disease struck in epidemic form in Brazil. The impact is still
being felt.
WHEAT RUST
In 1916 the red rust of wheat reduced the United States crop by 2,000,000 bush-
els and by another million in Canada, and the nation had two wheatless days a week
during most of 1917. Rust epidemics spread across the wheat belt again in 1935 and
in 1953. These epidemics were clearly genetically based in that as rust-resistant
varieties of wheat became available, farmers spread them over very wide areas. When
the fungus mutated to a form that attacked the new varieties, another epidemic fol-
lowed .
EXOTIC PLANT PARASITES
When a parasite moves to another distant area, it often finds highly susceptible
hosts with little or no resistance. Some classic examples of epidemics resulting
from the introduction of exotic plant parasites are:
80
Chestnut blight, introduced into the United States from the Orient on nursery
stock about 1904. The chestnut tree virtually disappeared from the eastern hard-
wood forests in a short time.
White pine blister rust, introduced from Europe, also on nursery stock.
Dutch elm disease, brought from Europe on veneer logs.
Blue mold of tobacco, introduced into the United States from Australia, and
then from the United States to Europe.
Coffee rust, already mentioned, introduced into Ceylon and then into Brazil,
where it threatens the entire coffee industry of South America.
SOYBEANS
The soybean furnishes another good example of low genetic diversity. Of 62
currently grown varieties (43 northern and 19 southern) only 17 were grown in 1970
on as much as 1 percent of the soybean acreage. In the north-central area (eight
states) three of the commonly grown varieties have Richland as an ancestor, and
all have Mandarin as an ancestor. Such data indicate that for the soybean varie-
ties currently grown genetic uniformity is pronounced. The same germ plasm has
been used repeatedly to develop varieties that produce well under normal conditions.
Consequently, the factors likely to increase the vulnerability of a crop are pres-
ent in soybeans. The germ plasm has so far been sufficiently diverse to give
stability to production, but the capacity to withstand attacks of new parasites that
may show up is uncertain.
A NATIONAL COMMITTEE
The Committee on Genetic Vulnerability of Major Crops, operating under the Agri-
cultural Board of the National Research Council, concluded its 304-page 1972 report
with a series of "Challenges to the Nation." Included were such things as overseas
laboratories to study exotic pests that are potential threats to our major crops;
offshore laboratories to study susceptibility of American crops to exotic pests;
establishment of a national monitoring committee to keep a watchful eye on the de-
velopment and production of major crops and to remain alert to potential hazards
associated with new or widespread agricultural practices; maintenance of germ plasm
or gene pools; continuing the collecting expeditions sponsored by the USDA Plant In-
troduction Service; continuing the collection of parasites such as fungi, bacteria,
viruses, nematodes, and insects; and crop insurance against the hazards of an epi-
demic.
LIVESTOCK PROBLEMS
The livestock industry is faced with similar problems. In particular, swine
growers need answers to many questions related to the quality of pork. Pale, soft,
exudative pork, commonly referred to as PSE pork, has taken on increased signifi-
cance in recent years, in that it occurs simultaneously with, and may be directly
related to, the porcine stress syndrome (PSS) .
PSE pork was recognized more than 30 years ago, but it was considered a minor
problem. Students were taught that such pork was undesirable, but no one seemed to
know exactly why. In spite of much intensive research on the problem, begun in
Europe about 1950 and in the United States a few years later, there are still many
unanswered questions about its cause, its prevention, and the identification of
affected animals prior to slaughter. Circumstantial evidence points to increased
emphasis on selection for well-muscled breeding stock and wider use of confinement
systems of swine management as contributing causes.
81
In recent years the porcine stress syndrome (PSS) has caused serious and very
costly death losses among market hogs. The syndrome is especially prevalent in
very muscular animals, and death losses seem to have been greatest in herds in which
special emphasis has been placed on selection for increased muscling in the carcass.
It may well be that continued selection aimed at increased muscling and improved
quality of pork has inadvertently included selection for increased susceptibility
to stress. The seriousness of the condition is obvious when as many as one-third
of a truckload of market hogs die while en route to market. After death, about two-
thirds of such animals quickly develop the pale, watery muscle condition, suggesting
that the two problems, PSE and PSS, may be causally related.
Continued efforts to find a simple, inexpensive, and reliable method for de-
tecting stress-susceptibility in the live animal before it is subjected to lethal
stress conditions are essential. Even more important is finding an answer to the
basic genetic question: How can desirable pork quality characteristics be maintained,
and if possible, be increased, without at the same time increasing susceptibility
to stress arising out of such environmental conditions as those involved in confine-
ment systems of swine management? Inherent, too, is the same problem involved in
crop production: How to avoid loss of much desirable germ plasm, as increased em-
phasis is based on selection for desirable characteristics.
82
GENIC STERILITY IN HYBRID CORN PRODUCTION
For about thirty years after hybrid corn production became important in Illinois,
the general procedure followed by corn breeders was to plant two inbred lines in
alternate rows, one line to be the male parent and the other the female. Later in
the season, after the corn was well grown, but before any pollen had been shed, it
was necessary to go over the entire field and detassel the alternate rows represent-
ing the female line in order to insure cross-pollination. This was a costly opera-
tion, and even after mechanical equipment had been developed to eliminate much of
the hand labor, it was extremely critical as to time.
Cytoplasmic male sterility, which prevents the tassels from producing functional
pollen, had been recognized in the early 1930 's, but not until about 1960 was it com-
bined with other desirable characteristics in inbred lines that could be used in pro-
ducing hybrid seed corn while avoiding the labor of detasseling. One strain known as
Texas-sterile or simply T-sterile cytoplasm came to be almost universally used in the
production of commercial hybrid corn. Unfortunately, it carries a high degree of sus-
ceptibility to southern leaf blight caused by a newly recognized race of Helmintho-
sporium maydis. When this disease moved north into the Corn Belt in 1970, it caused
heavy losses both in farmers' fields and in commercial foundation and production fields.
Fortunately, Illinois researchers A.L. Hooker and associates discovered and pub-
licized the specific association between T-sterile cytoplasm and extreme susceptibil-
ity to the new race of the pathogen, so that it was possible to minimize the problem
promptly by shifting production to a base of nonsterile cytoplasm. Other types of
sterile cytoplasm are also known which do not display this striking differential sus-
ceptibility to the pathogen. Most commercial companies are continuing to explore the
use of such sterile cytoplasms in production procedures, though there is a conscious
effort to avoid the possible hazards of widespread dependence on any one cytoplasm
source.
Corn geneticist E.B. Patterson, however, took another approach. Essentially, it
involved the use of genie male sterility instead of cytoplasmic sterility. Some twen-
ty male-sterile genes are known in corn, and about half of them appear to be suitable
for use in commercial production. All of the known types are recessive in their ex-
pression and, since they can be employed in conjunction with various non-sterile
cytoplasms, they can be used in the production of hybrid seed without resorting to
detasseling while at the same time avoiding the problem of differential susceptibil-
ity to southern leaf blight.
Technically, the male-sterile plants have the genetic constitution ms/ms. If
they are pollinated by male-fertile plants which carry the recessive allele, we have
ms/ms x ms/+, and the progenies will consist of equal numbers of male-sterile {ms/ms)
and male-fertile {ms/+) individuals, provided the ms and + alleles from the pollen
parent are transmitted via the pollen in equal proportions to the progeny. If no
pollen grains carrying the normal (+) allele function in fertilization, all of the
progeny will be male sterile. This is precisely what is required to produce all-
sterile rows of female parents in commercial foundation and production fields. But
in order to maintain stocks of ms/+ plants in which the normal allele of the gene is
not pollen-transmitted, it is necessary that this normal allele be egg-transmitted.
83
Under Dr. Patterson's plan this is accomplished by making use of aberrant chro-
mosome types having breakpoints favorably located with respect to agronomical ly suit-
able male-sterile gene loci. The exact linkage relationship is important--no more
than perhaps 0.5 percent recombination between a male-sterile gene and an adjacent
point of deficiency—and out of 168 reciprocal translocations screened so far to
identify suitable egg-transmissible duplicate-deficient chromosome complements, only
nine specific combinations meet this criterion. Source stocks appropriate for deriv-
ing four such combinations were released to commercial corn breeders in May, 1972.
Corn geneticists will be interested in the linkage information relative to these
combinations, as shown in the following table:
Recombination Between Male-Sterile Gene Loci and
Chromosome Deficiencies in Duplicate-Deficient Plants
Specific combination
a/
progeny
of male-sterile gene
Interchange
points of
Testcross
locus and duplicate-
% ma 1 e -
deficient chromosome
reciprocal
Male
Male
sterile
plants b'
complement
translocation
sterile
fertile
Total
ms - Dp-Df 4-6b
ms? - Dp-Df 9-10a
ms^ - Dp-Df 4-10f
msj^- Dp-Df 6-10 5519
6L.16; 4s. 80 c/
2148
5
2153
99.8
9L.14; 10L.92 c/
3758
20
3778
99.5
10L.14; 4L.94 c/
7251
13
7264
99.8
10L.17; 6s. 75 c/
1111
0
1111
100
a/From ms/ms x Dp-Df +/ms/ms crosses,
b/Based on these data, figures in this column represent the percentage of male-
sterile plants expected in each case in female rows in commercial production fields
c/Duplicate-deficient plants are deficient for the chromosome segment distal to this
second-listed interchange point.
In addition to data for the specific problem here described, a considerable
amount of new linkage information has been obtained, and numerous stocks have been
derived and perpetuated that should have value in other areas of genetic research.
84
THE H BLOOD-GROUP SYSTEM AND REPRODUCTION IN PIGS
Do the effects of H-system alleles have potential for improvement of reproductive
performance in pigs? Iowa State workers had suggested that "the possibility of
quick gains through the H system may be worth the risk of failure." Studies by R.A
Rasmusen and Karen L. Uagen of the Department of Animal Science of blood types in
pigs from a breeding experiment have provided additional evidence of H-system ef-
fects.
Yorkshire, Duroc, and Yorkshire-Duroc crossbred pigs were produced from matings
of a group of boars and sows, repeated to form three separate breeding groups. For
each of six generations there was an unselected Yorkshire line, a selected Yorkshire
line, an unselected Duroc line, a selected Duroc line, and a selected crossbred line.
In the selected lines, selection was on the malgnside only, based on high whole body
potassium per unit of weight, as estimated by K count, adjusted for body weight,
age, sex, litter, and breed class. After the first generation, only four sire lines
were continued, and each male was mated to four females insofar as possible, pro-
viding a progeny test of four litters for each male.
Pigs were bled at 4 to 6 weeks of age. Blood samples were typed with H rea-
gent P57, and the H type was confirmed by using a second H reagent in a similar
test. All animals used for breeding were tested once at weaning and again as adults.
Boars were tested before their offspring were born, and sows in the same test as their
weanling offspring.
Parental types for matings were designated as a/- (genotype ti H ) and -/- (geno-
type H~H~). Chi-square tests revealed only one significant deviation from expected
numbers of ratios of a/- to -/- offspring, in Yorkshires from matings of a/- males
x -/- females, in which there was an excess of H -positive offspring. This was also
the only segregating mating in which litter size was below average, and significant-
ly lower than the reciprocal cross.
It was concluded that genotypes and phenotypes in the H blood-group system ap-
pear to be related to the reproductive performance in pigs as a result of both in-
compatibility for the H factor and differences in fitness among genotypes for H-
system alleles. Selection on the basis of H type might be effective in increasing
litter size in closed purebred herds. Selecting only -/- Yorkshire boars, regardless
of the H type of the sows, seemed to provide about one-half pig per litter above
average for the herd. This procedure would make it unnecessary to type females, and
would maintain some H alleles in the herd, which might be desirable.
In Durocs, polymorphism seemed to increase litter size, and the matings of -/-
x -/- gave litters of below average size. Hence it might be desirable to select -/-
boars and a/- sows for breeding in each generation. This repeated backcrossing for
H would avoid the production of undesirable a/a types, and make it unnecessary to
maintain a separate a/a line for crossing. Use of -/- boars would prevent any mother-
offspring incompatibility for H , and use of a/- sows would take advantage of any
heterozygote superiority of the female. It should be recognized that other breeds
or other herds might react differently.
85
HARDWOOD BARK FOR PACKAGING
BARE-ROOT NURSERY STOCK
Since about 1968, nurserymen have been using various materials such as vermiculite,
perlite, peat, styrofoam, and straw for balling and packaging bare-root nursery stock
prior to sale. No one of these materials is completely satisfactory. J.B. Gartner
and associates in the Department of Horticulture undertook to determine the feasi-
bility of using hardwood bark for balling and packaging purposes.
Comparisons were made between ammoniated bark, finely ground bark, coarse ground
bark, and composted bark, using four different wrapping procedures in each case. One-
fourth of the plants were wrapped in burlap bags; one-fourth in burlap plus a plastic
bag; one-fourth in burlap plus a plastic bag which had been perforated with 64 1/4-
inches holes; and one-fourth in burlap plus a plastic bag perforated with 64 1/2-inch
holes.
Their results were so successful that many nurseries are now using hardwood bark
in packaging ornamental plants, especially the bare-root type of nursery stock. The
conventional method of using plastic bags alone cannot be used with bark because of
the high build-up of C0~. This problem can be eliminated by perforating the plastic
with a sufficient number of 1/2-inch holes to permit the CO to escape.
More research is needed to determine how much and what plant nutrient material
can profitably be added to bark prior to its use for balling and packaging.
86
HARDWOOD BARK MULCH FOR ROADSIDE SLOPES
The wood-using industries generate thousands of tons of wood and bark residues for
which there has been no established use and which can no longer be disposed of by
burning. Early in 1968, T.R. Yocom and associates in the Department of Forestry
undertook a project directed toward the development of large, bulk- type uses for
these materials. An important phase of the project was to study the performance and
economic feasibility of using shredded hardwood bark as a roadside mulching material
to replace the dwindling supply of both straw and corncobs which have been widely
used for this purpose. Approximately 7,000 acres of roadside must be treated each
year, requiring more than 30,000 tons of mulch, a sizable market for the right kind
of mulching material.
A suitable mulching material must first form a protective layer or mat over the
exposed soils, one that is capable of absorbing the energy of falling raindrops so
as to diffuse and retard water runoff. Second, it must enhance conditions for good
seed germination and the development of a permanent well-distributed herbaceous cover,
essential to long-term erosion control. It must also be a quality-controlled pro-
duct of uniform structure, one that can be readily handled, transported, and applied
by efficient and relatively low-cost types of equipment. It should be conveniently
available on a year-round basis, and competitive in cost with other mulching ma-
terials.
Since texture and particle-size distribution may affect the performance of a
mulch, the researchers designed and constructed a motorized sieve-type classifier,
with wire sieves arranged in stack form, which was used successfully in measuring
the physical properties of the two bark mulches studied.
Through the cooperation of the Illinois Division of Highways, test sites were
selected on Interstate Route 70 east of Marshall and on Interstate Route 74 west of
Champaign where suitable cutbank slopes had been prepared for seeding. The trials
demonstrated conclusively that shredded bark materials can be mechanically applied
to roadside surfaces with blower-type equipment, and that they are nearly or equally
as effective as conventional mulches when applied at the rate of 30 cubic yards per
acre. Permanent vegetative cover produced on the bark-mulched area was definitely
superior to that on comparable areas treated with conventional mulching materials.
The shredded-bark mulches, when properly applied, are aesthetically attractive,
and avoid the problems of higher cost and spattered fences resulting from the emul-
sified asphalt that must be used with other mulching materials. Progress has been
made toward designing the equipment needed for hauling and applying the bulk-type
bark mulching materials. Several equipment manufacturing firms have developed new
machines for this purpose.
The rain tower on the University South Farm was used in further studies of the
performance capabilities of bark mulches. A model was constructed to simulate the
two slopes normally encountered along Illinois highways: 2:1 and 3:1. It was de-
signed so that surface runoff and percolation water could be collected separately.
Several mulches were tested on a clay loam topsoil provided by the Illinois Depart-
ment of Transportation. Two excessively high rates of rainfall--6 and 9 inches per
87
hour--were chosen to test the capacity of mulches to withstand extreme erosional
forces. A large trough collected the water, soil, and mulch that moved off the sur-
face, while holes drilled in the bottom of the soil box provided an outlet for water
that percolated through the soil layer.
A bark mulch applied at the rate of 30 cubic yards per acre on a 3:1 slope re-
duced soil erosion losses to acceptable levels when exposed to simulated 6-inch-per-
hour and 9-inch-per-hour rainfall rates that lasted for 30 minutes. Soil losses
were reduced to exceptionally low levels when the bark was applied at the rate of
40 cubic yards per acre. By contrast, soil surface mulched with sawdust applied
at the same rates and on the same slopes was severely eroded at both rainfall rates.
These results, in addition to the roadside tests made on Interstate Route 70,
demonstrated the value of bark mulches in preventing erosion on roadside slopes.
The material is available and the potential market is substantial.
88
HAY PELLETS FOR BEEF CALVES
Cattle seldom gain well on all-roughage rations fed as long hay because the supply
of available nutrients is limited by the amount of roughage an animal can eat. In
addition to the obvious advantages of reduced storage space, less waste, and conven-
ience, tests at the Dixon Springs Agricultural Center by A.L. Neumann, R.J. Webb,
and G.F. Cmarik resulted in greatly increased gains at less cost when 425-pound steers
were fed for 112 to 119 days.
In the first test, alfalfa-timothy hay (about one-third alfalfa) was fed free-
choice to three lots of steer calves as long (baled), chopped (4- to 6-inch lengths),
or pelleted (3/16-inch diameter) hay, with mineral and salt also available. The
calves fed pellets ate about one-third more hay during the test than did the calves
fed long hay. Daily gains were nearly tripled, and cost of gain was reduced by about
$4 a hundredweight. Each ton of pelleted hay produced about 100 pounds more gain
than did a ton of long or chopped hay.
In a second test, high- and low-quality alfalfa hays were compared. Steers fed
pellets consumed about one-third more than the steers eating long hay, and required only
9 pounds for each pound of gain, in contrast to the 63 pounds of hay per pound of
gain for the lot fed long hay. Consumption of low-quality lespedeza hay was only
slightly increased by pelleting.
An interesting observation was that calves on pellets seldom ruminated--that
is, chewed cuds. It was suggested that the energy required to pellet the hay was
probably less than that used by steers in ruminating long hay.
89
HEMOGLOBIN TYPES AND TRANSFERRIN (BETA GLOBULIN) TYPES IN SHEEP
From 1961 to 1970, 81 rams, 834 ewes, and 1,218 lambs comprising the Suffolk and
Targhee sheep in the regional sheep breeding project at the Dixon Springs Agri-
cultural Center were checked for hemoglobin type (A, AB, or B) using starch-gel
electrophoresis. The frequency of the allele for hemoglobin B was 0.90 for the
Suf folks and 0.85 for the Targhees. Matings involving B and AB parents produced
more B lambs than expected, a finding that is in agreement with data reported from
Germany and Hungary and consistent with a superiority of hemoglobin type B in an
environment such as that at Dixon Springs.
Transferrin (beta globulin) types were also determined and gene frequencies
calculated by B. A. Rasmusen and L. Fesus for the Suf folks, Targhees, and 600 Suf-
folk x Targhee crossbreds. At least nine different transferrins in sheep blood
have been found by various workers, and six of these were found in the Dixon Springs
sheep--types A, B, C, M, D, and E. No type D was found in the Illinois Suffolks,
but type D did occur in the Targhees. On the other hand, transferrin B was found
in Targhees, but only as a rare allele. There was no evidence in any of the sire
families suggesting the effect of a recessive factor, lethal in homozygous form
and linked to the transferrin locus, which might account for departures from the
expected 1:1 ratio.
90
HEREDITARY RESISTANCE TO DISEASE
Those who work with animals have frequently noted that some individuals appear to be
resistant to a specific infectious disease. Such animals give no evidence of having
contracted infection when they have had ample opportunity to do so, or if they are
infected, show much less serious symptoms than other individuals exposed under the
same conditions. In order to throw some light on the question of whether such resist-
ance is inherited, Elmer Roberts and L.E. Card of the Department of Animal Science
made a ten-year study of resistance and susceptibility to Salmonella pullorum, the
causative organism of pullorum disease in young chicks. More than 29,000 birds of
various breeds and varieties were used. Pullorum disease of fowls was chosen for
this study because:
1. It is a well-defined disease of young chicks, usually running its course in
a few days.
2. The organism is easily cultured in the laboratory.
3. The biological tests for detecting infection are considered reliable, and
are widely used for the elimination of infected individuals from commercial
breeding flocks.
4. Mortality can be observed in young chicks, and large numbers can be used at
relatively low cost, by contrast with what would be required in making a
study of a disease affecting only adults.
The foundation breeding stock for the experiment was obtained from several hun-
dred day-old chicks which were inoculated with Salmonella pullorum. The few that sur-
vived were used as breeders. Others obtained in like manner were added from time to
time until the flock was large enough to permit use of the progeny test as a basis
of selection. Only those parents showing a high percentage of survival among their
inoculated offspring were selected for further use as breeders.
Chicks were inoculated the day after hatching, a pure culture of the organism
being administered orally by pipette. All chicks of a given hatch were inoculated
from the same culture and placed in a brooder for observation. If chicks of differ-
ent kinds were to be tested, they were placed together in the same brooder. Survival
to three weeks of age was used as the measure of resistance to infection.
Among 4,138 chicks from selected strain I, inoculated during the years 1925 to
1933, the percentage surviving was 71.0, in contrast to 28.1 percent for 5,696 con-
trol chicks. From 1930 to 1934, selected strains II and III were compared with con-
trol stock, giving survival percentages of 64.9, 73.9, and 30.5, respectively. When
strains II and III were crossed, and the resulting progeny tested in 1934, survival
was 87.0 percent against 20.3 percent for controls tested at the same time.
A study of Chinese stocks was made by Dr. Roberts in the spring of 1930. If re-
sistance and susceptibility are hereditary, one would expect, in an old country where
fowls have long been domesticated and where there has been no artificial control of
disease, to find the chicks more resistant than those in a country where domestica-
tion is recent, where the disease has been present, and where disease-control measures
91
have been in general use. In the older country, natural selection would have tended
to eliminate the susceptible individuals, with only the more resistant ones surviving.
Six different kinds of chickens were chosen for the tests: Chia Gi, a small-type
chicken from the vicinity of Peiping, China; Cochins from the vicinity of Peiping;
Shansi from Shansi Province; Langshans from Nantungchow in central China; White Leg-
horns from stock imported from the United States about 1923; and Rhode Island Reds
imported from Canada specifically for the test.
Results from the several hatches were as follows:
Kind of chicken Number inoculated Percent surviving
Chinese
Chia Gi (small type) 552 61.1
Cochin 397 38.3
Shansi 221 26.7
Langshan 409 34.7
Local hatchery (mixed) 296 44.3
Imported
White Leghorn 306 68.0
Rhode Island Red 442 58.6
The high resistance to pullorum disease shown by the Chia Gi of North China, and
the low resistance of the Langshan of central China suggest the operation of natural
selection. In North China the birds had been exposed to pullorum disease, so that
the more susceptible probably were eliminated. The Langshan in central China, so far
as could be determined, had not been in contact with the disease, so that no natural
selection would have been possible.
In another phase of this research, an X-ray technique was used to study the re-
lation of lymphocytes to disease resistance. The number of lymphocytes in the blood
of chicks normally increases with age, reaching a maximum at five or six days after
hatching. Simultaneously, chicks become highly resistant to Salmonella pullorum in-
fection. When chicks were X-rayed at either one or six days of age, the number of
lymphocytes was found to be greatly decreased, and the chicks were found to be much
more susceptible to S. pullorum. Blood studies made of chicks from the 15th day of
incubation to eight days after hatching showed a higher percentage of lymphocytes in
resistant than in susceptible chicks from about the 20th day of incubation to three
days after hatching. This strongly suggests that the lymphocytes act as a defense
mechanism.
The overall results of the ten-year study support the following conclusions:
1. Selection was effective in producing strains more resistant to infection by Sal-
monella pullorum than were unselected stocks.
2. The selected stocks were consistent in maintaining resistance through successive
generations.
3. The Fj generation produced by crossing resistant and susceptible stock was as re-
sistant as the resistant parents.
4. Progeny of the l:\ individuals mated to resistant stock were significantly more re-
sistant than were the progeny of the back-cross to susceptible stock.
92
5. In the F2 generation both susceptible and resistant strains were recovered by
selection.
6. Resistance is dominant to susceptibility, but probably more than one gene is in-
volved.
7. Lymphocytes in the blood apparently act as a defense mechanism against Salmonella
pullorum infection.
93
HIGH-PRESSURE PRESERVATIVE TREATMENT OF WOOD
In ordinary chemical treatment of wood with preservatives, full penetration of the
solution rarely occurs if the pieces treated are as large as crossties. Accordingly,
C.S. Walters and J.K. Guiher in the Department of Forestry undertook a test in which
both crossties and small stakes were subjected to pressures as high as 800 p.s.i.
(pounds per square inch) during treatment. The woods used were red gum and Douglas
fir.
Sixteen-inch stakes of red gum 1-inch square in cross-section were treated with
5 percent pentachlorophenol in a petroleum solvent. Half of the specimens had a 25
percent moisture content, and the others were dried to an 8 percent content. Ends of
all stakes were double-coated with a phenolic resin adhesive prior to treatment to re-
sist end penetration of the preservative.
During treatment, the stakes were subjected to pressures of 100, 200, 400, or 800
p.s.i. for 30 minutes at either 100° F. or 200° F., using the Lowry method with no
final vacuum. Average absorption of the treating solution, calculated as pounds per
cubic foot of wood, was as follows:
Pressure (p.s.i.) 100° F. 200° F.
0 (atmospheric)
100
200
400
800
Average
Absorption of the preservative was considerably higher at a moisture content of
8 percent than at 25 percent, and it is suggested that red gum be dried to about 8
percent moisture before treatment. The normal fiber saturation point for red gum is
about 25 percent.
Absorption increased almost linearly with increasing pressure, and could be pre-
dicted from the following formula:
Y = 0.01573X + 0.523
Y = absorption in pounds of solution per cubic foot
X = treating pressure in pounds per square inch
Solving for 800 p.s.i. gives a predicted absorption of 14.5 p.c.f. The maximum
difference from the values predicted by the above equation was 1.2 pounds, or approx-
imately 8 percent.
Lumen pressure is more quickly dissipated along the grain than across the grain
of the wood. In tests with small stakes, no end coatings (resorcinol adhesive) were
loosened during treatment. Any such loosening would have indicated excessive pres-
sure release parallel to the grain. To check on the possibility of mechanical damage
94
.32
- .07
(slight loss
of moisture)
1.84
2.79
2.79
4.67
5.97
6.86
4.41
14.66
5.07
5.78
to heavy timbers, such as crossties, following quick pressure release, air-seasoned
red gum crossties were similarly treated with pentachlorophenol dissolved (5 percent)
in a petroleum solvent.
Moisture content was measured near midlength of each tie at a depth of 1-1/2 inches,
and wood temperature was monitored by a thermocouple near the geometric center of one
tie. The ties were heated in the preservative solution until the wood reached 205° F.,
a matter of nine hours. Lowry pressure of 800 p.s.i. was then applied for 1/2 hour,
and released to atmospheric pressure in less than one minute. After 12 hours, the
ties were ripped lengthwise for examination. Nearly complete penetration was obtained,
with average retention of 15.2 p.c.f. No deleterious effects of the high-pressure
treatment were observed.
In the Douglas fir tests, stakes of heartwood 1 inch in cross-section and 16 inches
long were treated in similar fashion. Moisture content of the wood was 28 percent
(saturation) and 6.7 percent. Solution temperatures were 100° F., and 200° F., and pres-
sures used were 100, 2u0, 400, and 800 p.s.i. Pressure and temperature each had a
significant effect on the amount of solution absorbed, but there were no significant
differences with respect to the two moisture levels.
In another test to observe dimensional changes in Douglas fir, heartwood stakes
at 8 percent and 29 percent moisture content were used, with the same two temperatures
and with pressures of 100, 300, 450, and 600 p.s.i. Maximum absorption of 15.4 p.c.f.
occurred at 600 p.s.i. with wood at 8 percent moisture and 200° F. Collapse was ob-
served under these conditions. Little if any collapse, as measured by a strain gauge,
occurred at 300 p.s.i. or less, when the wood was at 200° F. or cooler. Partial re-
covery of compression set was believed to have resulted when high pressure kept the
moisture in wet (29 percent) wood in a liquid state. At atmospheric pressure, how-
ever, the water in the hot wood was converted to steam, which in turn brought about
full recovery.
95
HOME ECONOMICS EXTENSION
Home Economics Extension, like Agricultural Extension, was operating, and had become
fairly well known in the state several years before passage of the Smith-Lever Act
in 1914. The new act, however, made it possible to add a staff member who would
serve as a full-time extension worker throughout the state. Miss Mamie Bunch, a
1914 graduate of the University of Illinois, was the first person chosen for this
responsibility; and on August 1, 1915, Miss Eva Benefiel, a 1909 graduate, became
the first county home adviser, working through the Kankakee County Improvement As-
sociation. Within three years there were similar organizations in ten other counties-
Adams, Champaign, Kane, LaSalle, Livingston, McHenry, McLean, Madison, Mercer, and
Williamson.
Obtaining well-trained personnel for county work was a continuing problem, and
many in-service courses were held by the state staff to help meet the increasing
need for technical information. Miss Mary A, McKee in her "History of Home Econo-
mics Extension in Illinois" wrote:
One has only to read the early reports, sketchy as they are, handwritten at,
no doubt, the end of a long and weary day, to sense the dedication and deter-
mination of those early workers. Nothing daunted them; they never admitted
defeat; they were most ingenious and must have been well trained and grounded
in the field of home economics; but they did not hestitate to lecture in other
areas when necessary. They were skilled, too, in working with people, and
seemed to have a way of ferreting out the real leaders in a community, enlist-
ing their support as well as that of industrial and business leaders.
Another quotation from Miss McKee' s history seems appropriate here, as it relates
to problems encountered during the war years:
No history of Home Economics Extension work in Illinois would be complete with-
out mention of the important early work carried on in and around the larger ur-
ban centers: Chicago, Rockford, Peoria, Springfield, Alton, and Granite City.
Organizers in urban areas had many problems in common, one of which was the
large foreign population living in the industrial areas of the cities close to
their work. Here leadership was not easily available to help in starting any
new program, because the so-called "white collar" families lived away from the
factories and did not take part in neighborhood activities. Industry over the
state did furnish guidance, considerable financial support, and sometimes ar-
ranged for contact with women workers so that they could be helped with the most
immediate problems as related to conservation and health.
The foreign population, often neither speaking nor understanding English; steeped
in the ways and customs of the Old World; with strong food likes and dislikes;
and suspicious of what they thought was government intervention; presented prob-
lems different from those encountered in the strictly rural areas of the state.
Often explanations and directions had to be given to the children who did speak
and understand English. Then they could take this information home to their
parents. One worker said: "I meet misunderstandings with painstaking repeti-
tion." Extension workers rendered a great service to these foreign families in
explaining what the government wanted and why food conservation was necessary.
96
The emergency situation had made it possible for Extension workers to meet wom-
en and help them, and the work done had met a real need. But for several years af-
ter the war there was no organized extension work in and around the large urban cen-
ters. The main emphasis was placed in rural areas, including not only farms but
small towns with rural interests.
State staff members were still appearing on programs for Farmers* Institutes,
parent-teachers* associations, Teachers' Institutes' Chautauquas, community con-
ferences, high schools, Child Welfare Leagues, community fairs, Granges, household
science clubs, and other groups.
The county home bureaus were being regarded with increased recognition and added
respect, and there was an increasing interest in girls' club work. Women were will-
ing to assume added responsibility as they began to realize that the county home bu-
reau was their organization. As the program grew in significance, the next logical
step was to appoint specialists at the state level in such subject-matter areas as
clothing, home furnishings, home management, health, food and nutrition, and child
care and training. These all contributed to Miss Lita Bane's "Aim for the Homemaker":
To have the home economically sound, mechanically convenient, physically
healthful, morally wholesome, mentally stimulating, artistically satis-
fying, socially responsible, spiritually inspiring, and founded upon mu-
tual affection and respect.
By 1949 home bureau membership had exceeded 50,000, with all counties organized
except Calhoun and Hamilton. There was a growing interest in projects related to
community welfare, and the Illinois Home Bureau Federation, which had been organized
in 1924, was regularly represented on the Illinois Women's Legislative Conference,
composed of delegates from many women's organizations in the state. County meetings
had increased to more than 50,000 annually.
In 1956 all county home bureau executive boards voted to form county home eco-
nomics extension councils. These councils, with membership of 10 to 20 persons, meet
once a month and are responsible for development and administration of county programs.
In 1962 the name County Home Bureau was changed to County Homemakers Extension
Association, and the county councils and county executive boards were combined into
one unit.
97
HORSE PULLING CONTESTS
As a combined extension and research project, more than 100 horse pulling contests
were conducted at various places in Illinois during the years 1927 to 1936, with more
than 1,300 farmer-owned teams of horses and mules participating.
Before each contest all horses were weighed and measured for various physical
characteristics by C.W. Crawford in the Department of Animal Husbandry. Analysis of
the data indicated a fairly close correlation between weight and pulling ability, meas-
ured by a Collin's dynamometer. The best records were made by big horses with com-
pact, muscular build, deep chests, large heart girth, and energetic but calm disposi-
tion. Sharp shoes, thorough training, and skillful driving were also of great help.
The state record for teams weighing less than 3,000 pounds was made in 1932 by
a pair of geldings belonging to Willard Rhoads, Springfield. Weighing 2,920 pounds,
they lifted 2,825 pounds on the dynamometer and pulled it 27-1/2 feet in a contest at
Tuscola. For teams weighing 3,000 pounds or more, the record was made in June, 1935,
at Wheaton by a 4,090-pound pair of gray geldings belonging to Charles N. Latt, Sand-
wich. They lifted 3,400 pounds on the dynamometer and pulled it 27-1/2 feet.
98
HORSES FOR FARM POWER
During the 1920' s and early 1930' s, before tractors had become the main source of
power in crop production, farmers were much interested in ways of making most effi-
cient use of horses. Staff members in the departments of Agricultural Engineering
and Animal Husbandry studied this problem from two points of view. One approach was
to find the most efficient big-team hitches for accomplishing field work, and the
other was to conduct pulling contests using a dynamometer to learn what kinds of horses
would best meet the power requirements.
It was soon found that some type of tandem hitch was much more efficient than a
side-by-side hitch if more than two horses were to be used in a given operation. The
tandem hitch eliminates most side draft, which meant that 4 horses hitched tandem 2
and 2 could walk 20 miles a day and plow five acres more easily than 4 horses hitched
abreast could walk 16 miles and plow 4 acres. One man could thus accomplish more
work.
From a statistical study of certain measurements and other characteristics of
horses entered in pulling contests held at county fairs, it was concluded that weight ,
heart girth, shoeing, and physical condition were definitely associated with pulling
ability. As weight increased, pulling ability also increased, regardless of whether
the other factors were held constant. Well -shod horses had considerable advantage
over those that were not.
99
HORTICULTURAL USES FOR HARDWOOD BARK
Large amounts of hardwood bark are produced by midwestern sawmills and paper mills.
For many years this was considered waste material, and most of it was burned. Under
new anti-pollution laws, the bark can no longer be burned and dumping has become a
problem. At the same time, producers of ornamental plants have been looking for low-
cost substitutes for peat moss, perlite, and other materials commonly used in growing
and packaging their plants.
J.B. Gartner and associates in ornamental horticulture have been working since
1968 to determine the value of hardwood bark as a soil amendment or as a growing me-
dium for various container -grown ornamentals, as well as for packaging and artificial
balling of nursery stock. In their initial work ground bark was substituted for peat
in the standard mix of one-third each of soil, peat, and perlite by volume. In some
tests, coarse masonry sand replaced soil with no adverse effects. In later experi-
ments, a mix of two-thirds bark and one-third sand was used. In order to offset de-
composition, they found it necessary to add nitrogen to the mix. The formula recom-
mended is 6 pounds of ammonium nitrate, 5 pounds of superphosphate, 1 pound of ele-
mental sulfur, and 1 pound of iron sulfate to each cubic yard of the mix. This should
be thoroughly mixed in a drum or rotary mixer and stockpiled for a minimum of six
weeks, after which it is ready for use.
Nurseries making use of bark claim the following advantages:
1. It is fairly economical and readily available.
2. It has excellent waterholding capacity.
3. It provides a well-drained and well-aerated medium that is difficult to
overwater.
4. Bark mixes do not dry out rapidly, and plants are able to obtain water
readily from them.
5. Bark contains the minor elements essential for plant growth.
6. Bark is light in weight and easily handled.
100
HOW MILK IS MADE
It is well known that cows vary widely in their ability to produce milk. Milk also
varies widely in composition, especially in fat content, and some of the factors re-
sponsible for this variation have been determined. Research in selective breeding,
feeding, and management has made it possible for dairymen to increase the efficiency
with which their herds convert feed into the highly prized human food we know as milk.
But these external measurements have no direct relation to the physiological ques-
tion of how the cow makes miik, or to the much deeper and more complicated question
of how the cells in the mammary gland are able to transform the end products of diges-
tion into milk. B.L. Larson and associates in the Department of Dairy Science under-
took to answer this question in biochemical terms, by taking a look at the milk-
synthesizing factory—the individual cells — and following the production lines that
fabricate the individual constituents of milk.
Using a new approach, mammary tissue was isolated from a cow immediately after
slaughter. The secretory cells from this tissue were then grown in a controlled lab-
oratory environment over a period of several months.
In the procedure that was developed, mammary gland tissue is removed from the
cow, the individual cells are loosened from the closely surrounding connective mate-
rials by using an enzyme called collagenase, after which the cells are transplanted
into glass flasks. A liquid medium added to these flasks supplies the nutrients the
cells would ordinarily get from the blood stream of the living animal. The cell cul-
tures are kept in an incubator at normal body temperature. As the flasks become
crowded with too many growing cells, some are removed to start new daughter cultures.
Some of the cell cultures have been kept living and reproducing for several years.
But there were difficulties. For a short time after they were placed in culture,
the cells continued to make milk constituents, but they lost this ability after a few
days. The reason is not yet known, but the same sort of thing has been observed by
other investigators in cell cultures from other specialized tissues such as kidney,
heart, liver, and lung. Furthermore, the changes have many similarities to what hap-
pens when a cell becomes cancerous. The tissue culture technique is being used ex-
tensively in cancer research today to study cellular functions and changes.
One of the first properties lost by mammary cells in culture is the ability to
synthesize lactose (milk sugar) from glucose (blood sugar) . Although much is known
about the metabolic pathway for lactose synthesis, the factors controlling it are not
yet fully understood.
Studies with radioactive tracer elements have shown that alpha- and beta-casein,
alpha-lactalbumin and beta-lactoglobulin--four of the several proteins in cow's milk--
are synthesized in the secretory cells from amino acids, whereas some of the other
milk proteins are preformed in the blood stream.
When cell cultures were used with a defined nutrient medium to determine the ami-
no acids required by the secretory cell to synthesize some of the milk proteins just
mentioned, mammary cells were found capable of synthesizing the usual nonessential
101
amino acids and required the usual essential amino acids, contrary to what had been
postulated earlier.
The close interrelationships of the constituents of milk and the complexity of
the individual biochemical pathways on which they are synthesized suggest that the
difference between a high- and a low-producing cow may lie in the limitation set by
a single enzyme which is in short supply somewhere along one of the pathways. If con-
tinued work on this project makes it possible to answer on a molecular basis the
question, "How is milk made?"', it should be possible to do an even better job of ma-
nipulating dairy cattle for meeting some human food needs.
102
ILLASCO K-40 COUNTER
A liquid scintillation radiation detector capable of measuring radioactivity in human
beings and in animals as large as mature cattle was built and installed at the Univer-
sity of Illinois in December, 1962. Popularly known as Illasco or the K-40 counter,
it can measure gamma radiation so as to permit precise, objective measurements of
meatiness in a live animal.
Use of the device is based on the discovery that naturally occurring nonradioac-
tive potassium-39 contains a small but constant amount of radioactive potassium-40.
Hence a measurement of gamma radiation from K-40 in natural materials is, in fact, a
measurement of the potassium present.
In the animal body, potassium is found mostly in the lean tissues and, within a
given species, the potassium content of fat-free, dry tissue is fairly constant among
healthy animals. Theoretically at least, this makes it possible to estimate the lean
tissue in an animal by simply measuring the gamma radiation from K-40 in the live an-
imal. A few such instruments for use on small animals and humans had been built at
other institutions, but at the time of its construction, Illasco was the only instru-
ment of its kind large enough to accommodate cattle. The cost of its construction--
about $90, 000- -was met by grants from the Atomic Energy Commission and the Illinois
State Department of Agriculture.
Two large tanks filled with about 200 gallons of organic solvent containing chem-
ical "scintillators" comprise the detector. The tanks are concave, and are mounted
on tracks, so that they can be put in position to partially surround the animal to be
"counted."
The entire instrument is enclosed in a 50-ton vault with steel walls 5 inches
thick to shield the highly sensitive equipment from cosmic and environmental radiation.
This shielding increases the sensitivity of the instrument so that accurate counts of
K-40 are obtained within 4 to 8 minutes. Even so, the background radiation counts
may be double the count rate of a 450-kilogram steer, and background counts need to
be made immediately before and just after animal counts in order to insure accuracy.
Results with the counter have been confirmed by slaughter tests, and both animal
and instrument variations have been sufficiently minimized to demonstrate that Illasco
provides a highly efficient and rapid means of estimating body lean tissue either in
the carcass or its parts or in the live animal. One might say that Illasco permits
the scientist to "slaughter" the same animal several times during the course of a sin-
gle experiment in order to study changes occurring in body lean tissue.
As part of a continuing breeding study, more than 5,000 pigs have been measured
for K-40 during the first ten years the instrument was available. Substantial numbers
of cattle and sheep have been studied in relation to nutrition and growth. In addi-
tion, the equipment has had wide usage by the Department of Physical Education in ob-
serving men subjected to various exercise programs, and in studying growth, develop-
ment, and physical activity of children.
103
Staff members closely associated with and responsible for Illasco have included
O.B. Ross, who promoted the original installation and financing of the facility; A.R.
Twardock in Veterinary Medicine, who assisted in calibration and standardization of
the instrument; and T.G. Lohman, who related K-40 measurements to body composition in
animals and humans.
104
ILLINI CHRYSANTHEMUMS
The story of Illini chrysanthemums began in 1908 when Herman B. Dorner came to the
University of Illinois to develop a teaching and research program in floriculture.
He was later aided by Stanley W. Hall, who joined the staff in 1917, and by John R.
Culbert, who assumed responsibility for the breeding program in 1946. The Illinois
breeding program was aimed at creating varieties that would be useful to commercial
flower growers. After ten years of development, 24 new varieties were released, and
this kind of effort has continued. Illini Snowdrift, for example, a white variety
released in 1950, had a new feathery form which gave fresh impetus to the use of chrys-
anthemums in corsages, wedding bouquets, and dainty arrangements. More than 110 va-
rieties have been introduced to the florist industry since 1919, and the University
of Illinois is represented wherever chrysanthemums are grown, from Florida to Califor-
nia, and from Sweden to Japan.
Another aim of the breeding program was to extend the natural blooming period of
these attractive flowers. Most greenhouse varieties flower naturally from late Octo-
ber through mid-December, but no one variety could be flowered during the entire pe-
riod. If a florist wanted a constant supply of blooms, he chose a series of varieties
with natural blooming dates falling in successive intervals of about five days. Il-
lini Bright Eyes, with a natural flowering date of December 20, and Illini Cascade,
which flowers January 5, were among a number of late-flowering varieties developed and
released. Illini Cascade still has the latest natural flowering date of any chrysan-
themum on the market.
The next logical step in extending the blooming period was year-round flowering.
Research had shown that by artificially controlling day length and temperature, chrys-
anthemums could be flowered every day of the year. For example, a certain variety
that year after year set its buds about September 1 and flowered November 5, could be
made to flower on October 5 by giving it artificial short days starting on August 1.
And flower buds could be prevented from forming by lighting the plants in the middle
of the night. Also, for flower buds to form a night temperature of 60° F. had to be
provided. It turned out that relatively few of the existent varieties would respond
to such treatment. One such was Illini Igloo, released in 1953, which rapidly became
a standard variety both in the north and in Florida.
Originally a cut flower, the chrysanthemum rapidly became the No. 1 potted plant
with the advent of year-round flowering and the development of satisfactory varieties.
The Illini breeding program met these changing market demands by developing and re-
leasing Illini Trophy in 1968. The high summer temperatures of the midwest and south
posed serious problems of heat delay to the grower of chrysanthemums. Illini Hot Pink,
a potted chrysanthemum released in 1972, is the culmination of years of breeding and
development to find a heat -tolerant, nonfading pink variety.
Illini Spinwheel, released in 1971, is the first of a new type of potted chrysan-
themum to reach the market. It was bred specifically as a small potted plant that
could conveniently be sold in the supermarket, variety store, or garden center at a
low price for display in the home. The small dainty white flowers are borne in pro-
fusion and cover the small compact plant.
All of this work has helped to make the chrysanthemum the most important year-
round flower, instead of just an important flower for autumn and early winter.
105
ILLINI NELLIE
W.W. Yapp of the Department of Dairy Science in 1961 began a report on Illini Nellie
with these words:
"This is the story of a Brown Swiss cow--a majestic dairy cow that was born,
made a world's record for both milk and butterfat, produced four sons and
four daughters, lived an illustrious and highly publicized life, and then
died at an advanced age on the University of Illinois dairy farm."
In April, 1927, the University staff had decided to add Brown Swiss to the well-
established herds of Holsteins, Jerseys, Guernseys, and Ayrshires that had for many
years been maintained on its dairy farm. A few choice Brown Swiss milking cows were
selected from the herd of H.W. Bischoff of Lockport, Illinois, who had decided to
dispose of his herd. A single cow with the registered name of McJohn's Nellie M.
was purchased from Ira Inman of Beloit, Wisconsin. On November 16, 1927, at the age
of three years, seven months, and twenty-eight days, this cow gave birth to a strong,
vigorous heifer calf destined to become world famous as Illini Nellie.
Advanced Registry Records
Lactations
Age at begin-
ning of test
Days in
milk
Milk
(pounds)
Butterfat
(pounds)
2 yr.
3 yr.
5 yr.
6 yr.
8 yr.
9 yr.
11 yr.
12 yr.
5 mo. ,
9 mo. .
5 mo. .
10 mo,
5 mo.
10 mo,
7 mo.
5 mo.
5 days
15 days
15 days
, 3 days
28 days
, 2 days
7 days
27 days
Total milk for 8 lactations
*Both world's records for the breed.
365
365
365
365
365
365
259
160
17,580.1
21,398.9
24,633.9
24,693.8
29,569.5*
27,897.6
10,847.5
8,870.2
165,492.5
638.11
802.47
949.39
950.11
1,200.41'
1,062.80
397.21
308.35
6,308.85
Her first milking was on April 25, 1930, and the last on November 8, 1940. She
died on November 19, 1940.
This record represents 50.6 pounds of milk for every day of the productive life
of IlHni Nellie, enough to provide one quart of milk each day for each of 25 fami-
lies for ten years.
106
Complete Lactation Records
Lactations Days in milk Milk (pounds) Butterfat (pounds)
1 449 19,692.4 739.19
2 509 27,625.4 1,049.77
3 431 27,383.2 1,096.11
4 438 27,334.4 1,082.82
5 466 34,843.6 1,359.07
6 588 37,298.2 1,447.01
7 283 11,392.8 410.21
8 177 9,096.8 316.76
Lifetime production 194,665.8 7,498.94
In addition to the two world's records mentioned earlier, Illini Nellie also
held the following world's records for the Brown Swiss breed:
Most milk in the first five lactations (365) days each), 117,876 pounds
Most butterfat in the first five lactations, 4,539 pounds
Youngest cow of the breed to produce 5,000 pounds of butterfat, age nine
years, two months, and 20 days
Youngest cow of the breed to produce 125,000 pounds of milk, age nine
years and seventeen days
Single day's milk (three-times-a-day milking), 106.3 pounds
30 day's milk (three-times-a-day milking), 3,154 pounds
Not until twelve years after her death did another Brown Swiss cow make a
world's butterfat record to exceed that of Illini .Nellie.
107
ILLINOIS BEEF INDUSTRY
The purpose of a study by Neil R. Martin, David C. Petriz, and Roy Van Arsdall was
to describe the physical structure of the Illinois beef industry, including the pro-
duction of feeder cattle, cattle feeding, marketing patterns, and location of slaugh-
tering facilities.
The main beef-producing activity in Illinois has been cattle feeding, but this
has been decreasing in recent years while the number of beef cows has increased sub-
stantially, from 380,000 in 1950 to 795,000 in 1969. Most herds are small, although
larger herds have increased in importance in recent years. On January 1, 1968, 72
percent of all farms reporting beef cows had fewer than 20 head, but 21 percent of
all beef cows were accounted for by the 5 percent of herds consisting of 50 or more
cows. The popular beef breeds in 1968 were Angus 50 percent, Hereford 27 percent,
and Polled Hereford 17 percent.
Feeder calf production in Illinois has grown steadily in recent years, but Il-
linois feedlots continue to depend largely on out-of-state sources for their feeder
calves. Average shipments into the state have been nearly 1.1 million head a year
since 1955. Prior to 1966, most of these calves came from the plains states, but
by 1968 nearly half of these were replaced by shipments from Texas, Oklahoma, Mis-
souri, Iowa, Wisconsin, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Kentucky.
Terminal markets have historically been the principal outlet, but their rela-
tive importance has declined in recent years to about 26 percent of total sales,
while sales through direct buying points have increased to about three-fourths of
the total, largely because of increased interest in marketing slaughter cattle on a
carcass-grade and weight basis.
108
ILLINOIS INBRED LINES OF CORN AND CORN HYBRIDS
Since the early 1930' s many inbred lines of corn have been tested by top-crossing
on open-pollinated varieties as well as by interbreeding to produce hybrids. As
desirable lines were found they were released to farmers and to seedsmen--in the
early days of hybrid corn, particularly to the Illinois Seed Producers Association--
for multiplication and for production of single crosses in quanity for use by farmers
Qualities sought in such lines included not only acre yield but erect plants,
uniform height of ear, resistance to insect and disease damage, and early maturity.
By 1960 about 1,200 double-cross hybrids had been tested and released.
The making and testing of all possible hybrid combinations among available inbred
lines is a tremendous task. With only 100 inbred lines, for example, it would be
possible to produce 100 top crosses, 4,950 single crosses, the same number of three-
way crosses, and nearly 12,000,000 double crosses. This makes prediction studies
especially valuable, and the Illinois program has included this procedure for many
years.
Three-way crosses are particularly useful for this purpose, especially if a de-
sirable seed-parent single-cross strain is available for use as a tester. Three-way
crosses provide information on specific hybrids, and often make it unnecessary to
test inbred lines in top crosses and single crosses. Such data are shown for 32
Illinois inbred lines in various hybrid combinations in Bulletin 657 of the Station.
109
ILLINOIS SOILS—BEING DEPLETED BY HEAVY CROPPING?
A 100-bushel corn crop removes about 90 pounds of nitrogen, 15 pounds of phosphorus,
and 20 pounds of potassium from each acre of land. Soybeans produce most of their
own nitrogen, but a 36-bushel yield will remove 13 pounds of phosphorus and nearly
42 pounds of potassium. It is appropriate to ask, therefore, whether continued crop-
ping may eventually cause Illinois soils to lose their ability to produce profitable
crop yields.
L.F. Welch of the Department of Agronomy undertook to answer this question by
calculating the amounts of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium added to and removed
from Illinois soils year by year from 1940 to 1970. Added nutrients were considered
to be only those applied to the soil in the form of fertilizer, without including any
nutrients from legumes, manure, or sewage sludge. Nutrient removal was calculated
as the amount harvested in corn, soybeans, wheat, oats, barley, rye, and alfalfa hay,
using average yields for each year for each crop and acres reported harvested.
These calculations showed that in 1940 the harvested crops removed 220,000 more
tons of nitrogen, 53,000 more tons of phosphorus, and 88,000 more tons of potassium
than were added as fertilizer that year. Fertilizer use increased steadily, but even
in 1960 fertilizer additions of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium were, respective-
ly, only 31, 68, and 47 percent as much as the amounts removed in harvested crops.
The seven crops included in the calculation probably account for more than 95 percent
of the total fertilizer usage in Illinois.
Not until about 1965 did the amount of fertilizer added begin to exceed the cor-
responding amounts of nutrient removal in harvested crops. Since then, the increase
in what might be called the positive balance has been dramatic. In 1940 the amounts
of added nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium were, respectively, only 1,5, and 3 per-
cent of the amounts removed by harvested crops, but by 1969 these percentages had in-
creased, respectively, to 129, 167, and 130.
It is perhaps fair to say that Illinois soils were being "mined" of phosphorus
prior to 1964 and of potassium prior to 1966; but this has changed to such an extent
that the fertility status of these soils must now be increasing, and should be re-
flected in higher soil tests for phosphorus and potassium than were common up to a
few years ago.
110
ILLINOIS SOILS' PRODUCTIVITY
Soil productivity commonly refers to the capacity of a soil to support plant growth.
In this sense it is influenced by soil properties, climatic conditions, and manage-
ment inputs that are available for producing the crop.
Soils vary in their capacity to provide nutrients, water, air, and space for plant
growth and development at rates that are fast enough for profitable crop production.
Topography may influence water intake, soil erosion, and the efficiency of machine
operation.
Climatic conditions may cause variations in yield from year to year that amount
to as much as 20 percent above or below a 10-year average. (See Station Bulletin
610.) Annual rainfall, its seasonal distribution, length of growing season, and
freeze-dates are all important factors affecting soil productivity. Rainfall may
run off a sloping soil so rapidly that little water is stored in the soil for crop
use. Slopes facing south receive more solar radiation in spring and summer, and
hence are likely to warm earlier and dry faster than north-facing slopes in the same
general area, but are also more likely to be subject to drouth.
The application of management inputs (using this term in the agronomic sense)
can have a marked effect on soil productivity. Examples are limestone, low-cost
nitrogen, earlier planting, less space between rows of corn, more plants per acre,
improved seed, new hybrid varieties, more powerful machinery, and selective herbi-
cides. (See Extension Circular 1016 for details.)
Productivity of soils can also be evaluated on the basis of economic returns by
discovering the farming systems that prove most profitable. Earl R. Swanson in the
Department of Agricultural Economics used linear programming to develop the highest-
return farming systems that would maximize labor income-- returns to labor and
management --per acre of land, per hour of labor, and per dollar of money spent dur-
ing the first year of reorganization.
In order to meet the objective of maximum labor income per acre of land on
Drummer-Flanagan soils, a one-man farm of 95 acres or less needed to feed rather
large numbers of hogs and cattle and to have 40 percent of the land in standover
legumes. With larger farms, litters of hogs needed to increase, while cattle feeding
decreased. Total labor income in 1958 reached a maximum at a farm size of 257 acres.
When maximum labor income per hour of labor was set as the objective, a cash-
grain system gave the highest return per hour when actual labor use was less than
9 months out of a one-man and one -boy labor supply of 15.3 months. Most efficient
use of labor beyond 9 months required the introduction of cattle fed on pasture in
order to maximize labor income per hour spent working. When labor used went beyond
14.5 months, it was necessary to increase the hog enterprise to obtain the desired
objective.
Maximum cash balance per dollar of cash expenses gave a different picture. With
annual cash expenses of $1,600, a one-man 160-acre farm would obtain the highest
return per dollar by growing soybeans, assuming 10-year average prices for the period
111
1946- 195S. As cash expenses were increased in the model used, corn replaced soybeans
as the main crop. Between $2,500 and $9,100, the maximum amount of corn could be
grown with a "medium level of management," but when annual spending exceeded $9,100,
it was necessary to shift to a "moderately high level of management" in order to
insure maximum returns from the heavier applications of fertilizer that accounted
for the increased cash expenses. Hogs became a part of the highest-return system
beginning at $3,000 annual cash expenses; with cattle feeding required beyond the
$10,400 level. Similar changes were indicated for the 320-acre farm with a one-man
and one-boy labor supply.
Detailed results are given in Station Bulletin 629. A parallel study of Tama
and Muscatine soils will be found in Bulletin 602.
112
ILLINOIS SOIL SURVEY
Seldom has a major research project with its related educational aspects been carried
on for three-quarters of a century with the same basic objectives and continuing sig-
nificant accomplishments. The Soil Survey in Illinois, one of the strongest soil
survey programs in the country, is such a project. It was initiated in 1902 in coop-
eration with the Bureau of Soils of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Seventy-five years later most counties in the state have a complete soil report
available. A few have soil maps only or soil association maps and reports. For six
counties only limited information is available, but in each case the parent soil ma-
terials are similar to those of one or more adjoining counties for which complete re-
ports have been made.
In the early years of the survey, soils were mapped rapidly and only broad soil
types were delineated. As the work progressed, it became evident that finer soil
separations were necessary to increase the usefulness of the reports, and in 1933
Illinois adopted the "place name" system of soil nomenclature. In the most recent
reports soils are classified according to uniform nationwide procedures initiated by
the National Cooperative Soil Survey, which includes the U.S. Department of Agricul-
ture and the state agricultural experiment stations.
The latest soil maps, prepared from aerial photographs, are drawn on a scale of
1 :20,000(approximately 3 inches to a mile; 5 cm. to a kilometer) or 1:15,840 (4 inches
to a mile; 6.25 cm. to a kilometer) so that excellent detail is provided. Vari-
ous shadings are used to indicate such soil features as surface color, erosion con-
ditions, and landscape position. Soil boundaries are drawn in and symbols are in-
serted to show the soil name.
Physical and chemical properties of the various soils, as determined by labora-
tory measurements and analyses, are included in each soil report, together with esti-
mated crop yields under specifically defined management methods. Soil management
recommendations are based in part on consultations with farmers, agronomists, engi-
neers, and others in order that the reports may be of as much value as possible to
persons who will be likely to use them.
Certain kinds of soils tend to occur together in adjacent areas because they
have developed from similar parent materials. Such groups are called soil associa-
tions. Those found in Illinois have been designated, for convenience, as associa-
tions A to Z. More than half of the state which contains 36,000,000 acres, is repre-
sented by six of these associations.
Soil Association
Symbol Name
Percent
Acres
of state
4,761,000
13.2
4,382,000
12.1
2,989,000
8.3
2,888,000
8.0
2,613,000
7.2
2,519,000
7.0
20,152,000
55.8
A Joy-Tama-Muscatine-Ipava-Sable
W Littleton-Proctor-Plano-Camben-Hurst-Ginat
Q Ava-Bluford-Wynoose
N Clary-Clinton-Keomah
B Sidell-Catlin-Flanagan-Drummer
Z Lawson-Beaucoup- Darwin -Haymond- Bel knap
Total
113
Since climate is an important factor in soil development and is responsible for
many soil differences, maps showing average annual temperature, precipitation, and
frost -free days in Illinois are included in the reports. (See figures 8, 11, 12, 13 ,
and 14 in Station Bulletin 725.)
The Illinois Soil Survey has been conducted under the sucessive leadership of
G.G. Hopkins, J.G. Mosier, R.S. Smith, R.T. Odell, and J.B. Fehrcnbacher. Others
among the mapping personnel for ten years or longer include J.D. Alexander, 0.1.
Ellis, F.A. Fisher, G.E. Gentle, S.V. Holt, D.C. Maxwell, E.A. Norton, B.W. Ray,
E.C.A. Runge, G.D. Smith, H.W. Stewart, F. W. Wascher, H.L. Wascher, H.C. Wheeler',
E.P. Whiteside, Fric Winters, and .John Woddard .
114
IMMUNIZATION AGAINST POX IN DOMESTIC FOWL
Although fowl pox had been described as early as 1869, the virus nature of the causa-
tive agent was not recognized until 1902. By 1908 it had been shown that cutaneous
fowl pox and avian diphtheria were different manifestations of the same disease.
Cutaneous vaccination of chickens with living fowl-pox virus produced a high-grade
immunity which persisted for some time, but there were problems. Egg production
often dropped after vaccination of laying flocks, and many chickens died in flocks
that were suffering from parasitic or other diseases at the time of vaccination.
Beginning about 1932, Robert Graham and E.H. Barger developed a pigeon-pox
vaccine which could be applied by the feather-follicle method without producing any
unfavorable reactions. It proved to be very useful in vaccinating laying flocks for
the prevention of fowl pox, even though the resulting immunity was neither so strong
nor so lasting as that produced by fowl-pox vaccine. The pigeon virus was applied
by rubbing a small defeathered area on the thigh with a cotton swab that had been
dipped in the virus suspension.
A later vaccine consisted of a 1 percent aqueous suspension of the dried powder-
ed scabs removed from pigeons at the height of the disease. This vaccine applied
vigorously to the open feather follicles resulted in well-developed swellings of
the follicles, indicating good "takes." Exposure to fowl pox was made at intervals
of one, two, three, four, and six months after vaccination, with favorable results.
115
INTERNATIONAL AGRICULTURAL PROGRAMS1
The current international programs in the College of Agriculture, some of which be-
gan in 1952, have been largely sponsored and financed by the Agency for Internation-
al Development (AID) of the United States government. But the interest of college
staff members in foreign agriculture and in assisting other countries with some of
their agricultural problems began more than fifty years ago.
In 1918-19, Cyril G. Hopkins, then head of the Department of Agronomy, was given
leave of absence to make a study of the soils of Greece. This he did as major and
deputy commissioner in the American Red Cross Commission to Greece. He had as a
close associate in the project George J. Bouyoucos, a former student, who was re-
search professor in the Department of Soils at Michigan Agricultural College (now
Michigan State University). Together they traveled extensively in Greece, observing
farming conditions and collecting samples of 81 different soils which were analyzed
for nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, and calcium. Their final report
took the form of a bulletin containing specific recommendations on soil management,
which was distributed to some 100,000 Greek farmers and landowners. It was also
printed in 1922 as Bulletin 239 of the Illinois Agricultural Experiment Station under
the title "How Greece Can Produce More Food."
The atmosphere in the College and Station was favorable to an interest in for-
eign agriculture, partly because Dean Eugene Davenport, before coming to Illinois,
had spent a year in Brazil in 1891-92 helping to develop plans for a "Collegio Agron-
omica" to be modeled after Michigan Agricultural College. He had resigned his po-
sition at Michigan to accept this assignment at Piracicaba in the state of Sao
Paulo. On their return to the United States in 1892, he and Mrs. Davenport traveled
by way of England in order to visit the Rothamsted Experiment Station and confer
with its director, Sir Henry Gilbert.
Later he was to recommend that Professor H.W. Mumford be sent to South America
to visit several beef-producing regions, especially the Argentine Republic, in order
to study conditions under which those countries were producing or were likely to
be able to produce meats to compete with American beef. In 1897, before coming to
Illinois, Professor Mumford investigated livestock conditions in Great Britain,
France, Belgium, and Holland.
Illinois in India
The close relationship which the College of Agriculture has enjoyed with simi-
lar institutions in India began in 1932, when a young man who had been planning to
go to the Congo as an agricultural missionary found himself instead making intensive
preparation for an equally challenging future at the Allahabad Agricultural Insti-
tute, located across the Jumna River from the city of Allahabad in north-central
Indi a.
1See also "INTSOY" and "MUCIA" articles.
116
While a student in agriculture, Arthur T. Mosher had been active in the Univer-
sity YMCA, and its able secretary, Henry E. Wilson, had learned that Sam Higgin-
bottom was looking for a young agricultural engineer to go to Allahabad. He recom-
mended Arthur, and arranged for the two to meet. Arthur had taken but one course
in agricultural engineering, and it was agreed that he would spend a year in spe-
cial study with Professor J.B. Davidson, head of the Department of Agricultural En-
gineering at Iowa State College, before going to Allahabad an an assistant agricul-
tural engineer. He sailed for India in June, 1935, and devoted most of the next
twenty years to the Institute, the last five as its principal.
While Mosher was in the United States in 1957, he had conferences with the
Administrator of the Technical Cooperation Administration, U.S. Department of State,
and with officials and staff members of the University of Illinois. These confer-
ences were in part responsible for initiation of the first contract between the
University of Illinois and the U.S. government setting up a cooperative relationship
between the University and the Allahabad Agricultural Institute. This contract,
designated SCC-14574, was authorized under Title IV, Public Law 535, 81st Congress,
2nd Session, and was signed in June, 1952. It was drawn for one year, but was later
extended to September 30, 1955.
The basic agreement under which this and all subsequent Inter-Institutional
arrangements in India were made and carried out had been signed in New Delhi in De-
cember, 1950. It stated in part: "The government of the United States and the
Government of India undertake to cooperate with each other in the interchange of
technical knowledge and skills and in related activities designed to contribute to
the balanced and integrated development of the economic resources and productive
capacities of India."
Operational Agreement 028, entitled "Assistance to Agricultural Research, Edu-
cation and Extension Organizations," was signed in April, 1954. It provided for
Inter-Institutional arrangements on a regional basis among five American universi-
ties and forty Indian institutions engaged in the field of agricultural education
and research. This agreement provided for:
1. Services of 45 experienced American staff members for teaching
and advisory work in India
2. Advanced training of 80 Indian staff members in the United
States
3. Equipment and books to be supplied to the Indian institutions
to the extent of $1,628,400
The University of Illinois was assigned responsibility for Region I, consisting
of the states of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh in north-central India.
In the meantime, two men from Uttar Pradesh--A.N. Jha, Secretary of Agricul-
ture, and H.S. Sandhu, deputy director of the Tarai State Farm--had come to the
United States. They saw enough of American land-grant colleges and universities to
become convinced that the same general plan of operation would be both feasible and
highly useful in India. Mr. Jha moved up to Chid" Secretary and was sue coded in the
agriculture post by K.A.l'. Stevenson. All three men worked enthusiastically for
the establishment of a rural or agricultural university in Uttar Pradesh. Their
efforts produced significant results within the next ten years.
117
The Survey Team
Early in the negotiations which led up to Contract 1CA-W-48 it was decided
that a two-man survey team would go to India to visit the colleges and research
institutions in Region I, to get acquainted with some of the staff members of these
institutions, and to familiarize itself with general conditions in the region. One
member of the team would return later on a two-year assignment as Chief of Party.
While in India, the team was to develop a work plan for the region and a budget for
the first vear of operation, both of which would then be incorporated into and made
a part of the contract.
The Illinois survey team consisted of R.W. Jugenheimer, chairman of the College
of Agriculture Committee on Overseas Programs, and Associate Dean H.W. Hannah, who
had agreed to accept assignment to India as the first Chief of Party. They went
to India in April, 1955. They visited five colleges in Uttar Pradesh and one in
Madhya Bharat (later to become part of the new state of Madhya Pradesh), the Tarai
State Farm, and several research institutions. They concluded their report with
the following comments:
The survey team was impressed by the sincerity of purpose of all the
people it met, and with the energy and vigor in evidence on all sides.
We feel that it is a distinct privilege for the University of Illinois
to cooperate in this significant venture. If we were to list categori-
cally those things which it appears to us would most strengthen the
agricultural research and educational pattern in India, we would say:
1. Better coordination of research programs and planning of research
centers.
2. Integration of research and teaching in colleges of agriculture,
and inclusion of animal husbandry as a department.
3. More emphasis on public information and extension by all research
and teaching agencies.
4. Greater freedom of instructors to plan their courses, and less
emphasis on set syllabi and examinations.
5. More intermediate agricultural education of the vocational agri-
culture type found in American high schools.
Cooperating Institutions in India
Eight colleges of agriculture and three veterinary colleges in Region I were
involved in the early program:
Uttar Pradesh
Allahabad Agricultural Institute, Allahabad
Balwant Rajput College, Agra-Bichpuri
College of Agriculture, Nanaras Hindu University, Varanasi
Government Agricultural College, Kanpur
U.P. College of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandary, Mathura
118
Madhya Pradesh
M.P. College of Agriculture and Research Institute, Gwalior
M.P. College of Agriculture, Jabalpur
M.P. Veterinary College, Jabalpur
M.P. College of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry, Mhow
Government Agricultural College, Rewa
Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Agricultural Institute, Sehore
The Agricultural Universities
In 1959, the University of Illinois was asked to assist in working out the de-
tails for establishing an agricultural university in Uttar Pradesh, in line with
the basic proposals made by the Indian University Education Commission and the first
Joint Indo-American Team in Agricultural Research and Education. A new contract was
drawn up, and the previous regional contract was gradually phased out. A completely
new university was established on the 16,000-acre Tarai State Farm at Pantnagar,
District Nainital, in northern Uttar Pradesh. It was known as the Uttar Pradesh
Agricultural University (UPAU) until 1972, when the name was changed to Govind Bal-
labh Pant University of Agriculture and Technology (PUAT) .
Four years earlier, H.W. Hannah, the first Chief of Party under the regional
contract, had been given the specific assignment to draw up a blueprint for a rural
university1 in Uttar Pradesh. This blueprint established the general pattern for
the new university, but there was still much work to be done before actual construc-
tion could start. It was two years before the Uttar Pradesh Agricultural University
Act was passed by the U.P. legislative assembly and the Tarai State Farm definitely
established as the site.
In that year, 1958, the U.P. government selected three men to go to the Univer-
sity of Illinois to get detailed information on certain problems involved in the
development of the new institution. They were K.A.P. Stevenson, Secretary of Agri-
culture, Lucknow, to study administration in American land-grant universities; Y.R.
Mehta, horticulturist in charge, Government Vegetable Research Station, Kanpur, to
study the organization of courses and curricula; and M.S. Bisht, chief engineer, P.
W.D., Lucknow, to study building design and other architectural and technical details.
The report prepared on their return paralleled in many ways the "Blueprint" prepar-
ed by Dean Hannah, and was published by the U.P. government as "A New Univcrsity--the
U.P. Agricultural University."
Detailed plans and a budget were prepared in 1959 by a "Development Advisory
Committee" which functioned as an interim board of management. Plans included such
things as organizational structure, handling of contracts, staffing pattern, campus
development, selection of staff, development of curricula, establishing salary
scales, and purchase of equipment.
K.A.P. Stevenson was named as the first vice-chancellor for a four-year term,
and the university opened in July, 1960. It was the first land-grant type university
established in India, and it served as a pioneer in the introduction of integrated
teaching, research, and extension activities as well as a model for other agricultural
Blueprint for a Rural University in India. H.W. Hannah. Published by the Indian
Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi, in 1956. 56 pages. Also a mimeo-
graphed copy containing certain suggested revisions, dated September, 1956. 50
pages.
119
universities established in recent years. It includes colleges of agriculture,
basic science and humanities, veterinary science, technology, and home science,
which was established in July, 1971.
Through research activities on the university's experiment station and exten-
sive university farms, new varieties of the so-called miracle wheats have been de-
veloped which promise to make the Tarai region in which PUAT is located the wheat
seedbed of India.
An India-wide coordinated soybean research project is under way, as are inter-
disciplinary programs of teaching, research, and extension in water technology and
food technology, 4-H activities, and further projects in more than a hundred areas.
The first class in agriculture was graduated in 1964, the first in veteri-
nary science in 1965, and the first in agricultural engineering in 1967. Graduates
have experienced little difficulty in finding employment either in industry or in
government service.
It was Convocation Day at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute on
the outskirts of New Delhi. The big tent of green, yellow, and red was
brilliant in the sun, as the academic procession entered—first the fac-
ulty in colorful caps and gowns, then the 138 graduate students who were
to receive degrees.
It was a proud moment for Mr. P. Baskaran, a graduate student in entomol-
ogy, as he shook the hand of Dr. M.S. Swammathan, director of IARI, and
heard himself declared a Master of Science. And it was likewise a proud
moment for the Institute, because Mr. Baskaran' s degree was the 1,000th
advanced degree awarded by the IARI Graduate School in its 11-year his-
tory.
Last March 804 other graduate students at IARI and the 10 state agricul-
tural universities of India received M.S. and Ph.D. degrees, while 7,300
undergraduates received B.S. degrees in the various disciplines of the
agricultural sciences. By the end of the Fourth Five-Year Plan, in 1974,
it is expected that the agricultural universities will be graduating 25,
000 students per year--the new agricultural leadership of the country.
And this is a nation where the oldest of the state agricultural universi-
ties was founded only nine years ago, and the youngest is still in proc-
ess of establishment.
The oldest, Uttar Pradesh Agricultural University at Pantnagar, has lit-
erally risen out of swamp and timberland since 1960. Wild elephants still
occasionally invade the university's experimental farm, and not more than
three years ago a farm hand met a tiger in one of the cornfields. Some
of the other universities are also brand new, with whole campuses of brick
buildings rising suddenly where none stood a half-dozen years ago; some
are revamped older institutions. Probably there has never been such a
mushrooming of new agricultural universities in a comparable time anywhere
in the world. 1
1
A Partnership to Improve Food Production in India. By Carroll P. Streeter.
1969. 137 pp. The Rockefeller Foundation.
120
Development of the Jawaharlal Nehru Agricultural University at Jabalpur, M.P.,
followed a different pattern. Instead of building an entire new campus, the six
colleges of agriculture and the two veterinary colleges in Madhya Pradesh were made
constituent colleges of the new university, with transfer of physical facilities
and staff to JNAU on December 1, 1964. By that time the objectives of the regional
program begun in 1955 had been nearly achieved, and a new contract provided for aid
in developing the central university at Jabalpur. Enabling legislation provided
for the university to have exclusive responsibility for undergraduate and graduate
teaching and for research. Administrative headquarters were established in facili-
ties on the campus of the M.P. College of Agriculture. Chief administrative officers
were:
J.S. Patel, Vice-Chancellor
R.L. Gupta, Dean of Agriculture
R.L. Kaushal, Dean of Veterinary Science
B.P. Tiwari, Director of Research
S.L. Vishnoi, Director of Extension
T.C.R. Menon, Registrar and Comptroller
Specifically, the University of Illinois was asked to assist the state of Mad-
hya Pradesh and the J. Nehru Agricultural University "in developing policies, plans,
and programs, and advise on the organization, administration, and operation of the
university; on the development of resident instruction, extension, and research
programs; on ways and means of providing opportunities for training in modern agri-
culture; and on the planning, construction, and maintenance of physical facilities
and equipment of the university and associated undertaking."
In spite of the handicap of wide geographical separation--it is over 400 miles
from Mhow and Indore on the west to Rewa and Raipur on the east--the university has
functioned well. It has made significant strides in resolving academic problems
and implementing educational programs designed to meet the needs of the people of
Madhya Pradesh. A third faculty, that of Agricultural Engineering, was established
at Jabalpur in 1966. Teaching research, and extension functions have been integrat-
ed. A trimester academic schedule has been adopted, and examinations are adminis-
tered internally. Staff salaries have been approved, and promotions have been based
on merit rather than on length of service.
Other Agencies
This report would not be complete without some reference to important contri-
butions made by several other agencies.
Technical Cooperation Mission (TCM) (now USAID) 3 New Delhi. Cooperating with
each of the American university contract groups in India is the USAID Mission,
under the United States embassy in New Delhi. Frank W. Parker, long-time chief
agriculturist for the mission, first went to India in 1953, and continued in that
capacity until 1959. He maintained contact with high-level Indian government offi-
cials, particularly in the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, and was always availa-
ble to university team members for consultation. His successors in that position
were Raymond H. Davis, Ray G. Johnson, O.N. Liming, and Russell 0. Olsen.
121
In September, 1971, the University of Illinois entered into a contract with
USAID to provide an individual to serve as Chief of the Agricultural Universities
Development Division in the Mission. R.R. Renne served in that capacity, with sig-
nificant responsibilities for assisting the Government of India in the planning,
programming, and evaluation of the program. He also aided the Government of India
in strengthening education, extension, and research systems at the central govern-
ment and state levels.
The Ford Foundation. The first grant made by the Ford Foundation in its Over-
seas Development Program, later expanded to more than 75 countries, was made to
the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Government of India, in December, 1951. It
helped the Ministry measure villagers' response to a joint Center and state govern-
ment village improvement program, a pilot project which blossomed into India's Na-
tional Community Development Program involving all of the nation's more than 500,
000 villages.
The Foundation has assisted agricultural development mainly through the Inten-
sive Agricultural Districts Program, which aims to improve agricultural efficiency
through concentration of effort in selected districts and the use of a package of
technological practices and development services. The program has been instrumental
in increasing India's food production.
Grants have also been made to cooperating American universities in furtherance
of specific projects, and to several of the Indian agricultural universities. One
which involved the University of Illinois was made to the U.P. Agricultural Univer-
sity to assist in the development of a strong department of agricultural economics
to deal with problems arising out of the transition from traditional to modern
agricultural practices.
The Rockefeller Foundation. In April, 1956, The Government of India and the
Rockefeller Foundation entered into a formal agreement to cooperate in two specific
activities: the development of a modern postgraduate school at the Indian Agricul-
tural Research Institute, and the improvement of maize, sorghum, and millet produc-
tion. The agreement was later broadened to include work on other crops, but it is
still the charter for the Foundation's assistance to India.
The following January, Ralph W. Cummings arrived in India as director of the
Foundation's Indian Agricultural Program, with particular responsibility for helping
with the IARI postgraduate school. Although the IARI had been in effect function-
ing as a college of agriculture for about ten years, it did not have university
status and could award its graduates only an "Associateship," roughly equivalent
to a Master of Science degree. The Indian administrators asked Dr. Cummings to
help them draw up plans for IARI which would make it "the equal of any postgraduate
agricultural institution in the world in due course of time." The first 150 students
were admitted for advanced degree work in the fall of 1958, and the graduate school
was under way. It has been an outstanding success.
When the Government of India in 1962 set up an Agricultural University Commit-
tee, with responsibility for establishing some national guidelines, Dr. Cummings
was named as its chairman. It soon became known as the Cummings committee and, be-
cause of its official nature and the stature of its members, it was most effective
as an advisory group in those states which passed enabling legislation for the
establishment of agricultural universities after 1960.
122
Success of the second phase of the original agreement--crop improvcment--has
been in some ways even more remarkable. It has required the combined efforts of
state and Center government officials, Indian plant breeders, some foreign advisors,
agronomists on the Rockefeller staff, extension agents from the agricultural univer-
sities, and Indian farmers willing to try new varieties, and in some cases new crops,
along with new cultural practices. The result has been fantastic increases in
crop yields, up to ten-fold in some instances, so that India has become nearly self-
sufficient in several important food grains.
University of Illinois Staff Who Served in India
During the period of formal contract arrangements, more than sixty persons
from the College of Agriculture, a few from other colleges in the university, and
several recruited from other institutions, have served in India. Most assignments
have been for two years, and a few individuals have returned for a second or
third assignment. Others have gone for periods of one to six months on special
assignments.
In addition to those persons stationed at specific institutions, several ad-
ministrators have made official trips as "executive visitors" under the contract
provisions. These trips involved travel to the various places in north-central
India where staff members were located to review the work in progress and to become
familiar with some of the local problems.
The following list, grouped by the Indian institutions to which assigned, in-
cludes the names of persons who have served through 1973 on the Illinois teams in
India, their field of specialization or other responsibility, and the period of
service in India.
Allahabad Agricultural Institute, Allahabad, U.P.
M.H. Alexander, Dairy Science (Chief of Party), October, 1952, to August, 1954
Jeannette B. Dean, Home Economics, November, 1954, to October, 1956
George H. Dungan, Agronomy (Chief of Party), July, 1953, to September, 1955
Florence A. Kimmelshue, Home Economics, January, 1953, to January, 1955
T. Wilson Longmore, Rural Sociology, October, 1954, to January, 1956
Alex Reed (Southern Illinois University), Animal Science (Chief of Party), August,
1954, to June, 1956
Frank H. Shuman, Agricultural Extension, January, 1953, to May, 1955
Region I, North-Central India
G.H. Blackman (University of Florida), Horticulture. Institute of Plant Industry,
Indore, M.P., February, 1957, to February, 1959
W.D. Buddemeier, Agricultural Economics (Chief of Party). Government Agricultural
College, Kanpur, U.P., September, 1959, to August, 1963
123
L.F.. Card, Animal Science (Chief of Party). U.P. Department of Agriculture, Fucknow,
U.P., November, 1957, to November, 1959
W.J. Foremen (University of Georgia), Agriculture Fxonomics. Allahabad Agricul-
tural Institute, Allahabad, U.P., July, 1956, to May, 1958
R.J. Garber (Pennsylvania State University), Plant Breeding. M.P. College of Agri-
culture and Research Institute, Gwalior, M.P., February, 1957, to February, 1959
H.W. Hannah, Administration (Chief of Party). Tarai State Farm, Pant Nagar, U.P.,
October, 1955, to August, 1957
E.A. Keyes (Montana State University), Dairy Science. Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Agricul-
tural College, Sehore, M.P., January, 1958, to January, 1960
J.C. Laverty, Soils. Balwant Rajput College, Agra-Bichpuri, U.P. December, 1962, to
June, 1963
D.E. Lindstrom, Rural Sociology. M.P. College of Agriculture, Jabalpur, M.P., Sep-
tember, 1960, to September, 1962
J.W. Matthews, Agricultural Engineering. Balwant Rajput College, Agra-Bichpuri, U.
P., February, 1960, to August, 1961
E.E. Ormiston, Dairy Science (Acting Chief of Party). Banaras Hindu University,
Varanasi, U.P., February, 1961, to July, 1963
W.R. Schoonover (University of California), Soil Salinity (Acting Chief of Party).
Balwant Rajput College, Agra-Bichpuri, U.P., February, 1957, to July, 1961
F.H. Shuman, Agricultural Extension. M.P. College of Agriculture, Jabalpur, M.P.,
November, 1962, to November 1964
S.K. Sinha (Jensen-Salsbury Laboratories, Kansas City), Veterinary Medicine. M.P.
College of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry, Mhow, M.P., September, 1960
to June, 1961
W.H. Tammeus (Southern Illinois University), Agricultural Extension. Allahabad
Agricultural Institute, Allahabad, U.P., March, 1956, to February, 1958
G.I. Wallace, Microbiology, Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Mukteshwar, U.
P., May through July, 1957
Uttar Pradesh Agricultural University (now Govind Ballabh Pant University of Agri-
culture and Technology), Pantnagar, U.P.
Edwin Bay, Agricultural Extension, May, 1965 to April, 1967
P.D. Beamer, Veterinary Medicine, June, 1960, to August, 1964
C.S. Bittncr (Pennsylvania State University), Horticulture, July, 1970, to July,
1972
124
H.S. Bryan, Veterinary Science, May through August, 1969
J.B. Claar, Agricultural Extension, January through February, 1967
J.L. Dale (University of Arkansas), Plant Pathology, July through September, 1967
Forster Davidson (Urbana Laboratories), Soybean Inoculum, October, 1971, to Novem-
ber, 1973
D.F. Dayton, Horticulture, September through October, 1966
Jeannette B. Dean, Home Science Extension, October, 1969, to October, 1971
C.C. Delong, Administration, March through May, 1960
R.D. DeMoss, Microbiology, June through November 1965
T.R. Everett (Ford Foundation), Entomology, November, 1971, to December, 1973
T.J. Faggetti, Agricultural Extension, January, 1967, to March, 1969
J.B. Fehrenbacher, Pedology, September through December, 1965
W.D. Goeke (Illinois Breeding Cooperative), Artificial Insemination, March through
May, 1969
J.R. Gingrich (USAID/Vietnam) , Soil Science, September, 1968, to January, 1973
O.F. Glissendorf, Communications, January through March, 1971
T.S. Hamilton, Administration, January through May, 1960
H.W. Hannah, Chief of Party, September, 1958, to December, 1959
S.W. Hinners (Southern Illinois University), Poultry, January through June, 1971
Richard Hurelbrink, Pedology, August, 1968, to January, 1969
Theodore Hymowitz, Agronomy, May through October, 1967
R.C. Hay, Agricultural Engineering, December, 1961 to June, 1964; October, 1969,
to April, 1970
R.W. Jugenheimer, Research Administration, April, 1968, to June, 1970
W.V. Lambert (University of Nebraska), Chief of Party, June, 1960, to January, 1966
S.T. Lanford, Campus Planning, June through September, 1969
A.L. Lang, Soils, September through December, 1966
J.L. Leach, Mechanical Engineering, June through August, 1969
125
E.R. Long, Research, November, ] 964 to October, 1966
H.J. Miller (Kansas State University), Campus Planning, .July, 1971, to August, 1972
R.M. Matsuura (USAID/India) , Agronomy, May, 1968, to October, 1971
M.D. McGlamery, Weed Control, July through September, 1967
D.J. Minehart (USAID/India), Land and Water Use, January, 1965, to March, 1969
A.I. Nelson, Food Technology, October through December, 1969; Food Engineering,
September, 1971, to October, 1973
Charles Norman (University of West Virginia), Artificial Insemination, May through
August, 1969
E.E. Ormiston, Dairy Science, June, 1968, to August, 1971
F.E. Price (Oregon State University), Chief of Party, October, 1965, to November,
1967
Julius Price (Silver Engineering Co., Denver, Colorado), Sugar Beet Processing,
March through May, 1969
B.W. Ray, Pedology, September through December, 1965
F.E. Reeder (Funk Brothers Seed Company, Bloomington, Illinois), Seed Processing,
November, 1970, to February, 1971
E.H. Regnier, Student Training, July, 1963, to July, 1965
R.R. Renne (U.S. Department of Interior), Chief of Party, August, 1969, to August,
1971
E.D. Rodda (University of California, Davis), Agricultural Engineering, July, 1968,
to August, 1970
M.B. Russell, Water Technology, October, 1972, to June, 1973
E.C. Seyler, Admissions and Student Records, March through July, 1960
W.O. Scott, Seed Certification, January through April, 1972
R.A. Sikora, Plant Pathology, October, 1970, to October, 1971
D.A. Smith (Iowa State University), Veterinary Medicine, July, 1964, to July, 1966
Janice M. Smith, Home Science, February through March, 1966
L.J. Stannard, Entomology, June through October, 1968
Mary S. Svetez, (Applegate) , Office Procedures, March through July, 1960
126
J.H. Swing, Campus Planning, June through August, 1967
A.E. Thompson, Research, February through April, 1967; June, 1967, to September,
1969
M.D. Thorne, Research Administration, September, 1970, to August, 1971; Chief of
Party, September, 1971, to October, 1972
R.J. Webb, Farm Management November, 1959, to November, 1961; November, 1963, to
June, 1964; Dairy Science, August, 1966, to February, 1967
John Woods (University of Missouri), Communications, April through July, 1970
Jawaharlal Nehru Agricultural University, Jabalpur, M.P.
J.D. Alexander, Pedology, March through April, 1970
J.H. Behrens, Communications, July, 1968, to September, 1971
B.L. Brooks (Washington State University), Agricultural Economics, July, 1967, to
June, 1969
H.S. Bryan (Upjohn Company, Kalamazoo, Michigan), Acting Chief of Party, April, 1966,
to April, 1968; Veterinary Medicine, December, 1968, to April, 1969
W.D. Buddemeier, Chief of Party, November, 1964, to December, 1967; Farm Management,
December, 1969, to March, 1970
J.H. Byers, Animal Science, October, 1968, to May, 1972
J.B. Claar, Agricultural Extension, December, 1966, to January, 1967; August through
October, 1969
D.E. Erickson, Production Economics, September through December, 1968
C.H. Farnham, Research Farms, April, 1966, to August, 1968
J.B. Fehrenbacher, Pedology, March through April, 1970
K.E. Gardner, Administration, July through December, 1967
H.G. Halcrow, Agricultural Economics, October through November, 1967
J.R. Harlan, Research, November, 1966, to February, 1967
C.N. Hittle, Seed Processing, September through December, 1968; Agronomy, September,
1969, to August, 1971
J. A. Jackobs, Agronomy, February through May, 1966
F.B. Lanham, Research, November, 1965, to February, 1966
W.H. Luckman, Research, May through August, 1967; Entomology, August through Octo-
ber, 1970
127
M.D. McGlamery, Weed Control, June through September, 1968
W.A. Meyer, Plant Pathology Graduate Student, January, 1971, to January, 1972
R.T. Milner, Food Technology, September through December, 1967
D.J. Minehart, Research Farms, May, 1969, to April, 1972
0.0. Mowery, Agricultural Extension, August, 1967, to August, 1969
R.O. Nesheim, Animal Science, February through March, 1966
E.F. Olver, Agricultural Engineering (Chief of Party), May, 1967, to July, 1969
J.W. Pendleton, Plant Physiology, September through December, 1970
M.B. Russell, Research, September through December, 1965; February through May,
1967; Chief of Party, July, 1969, to August, 1971
G.W. Salisbury, Dairy Science, November through December, 1965
G.C. Shove, Participant Adviser, August through September, 1971
CD. Smith, Registrar, January through April, 1966
G.F. Sons, Extension Administration, February through April, 1970
L.J. Stannard, Entomology, January through February, 1970
J.H. Swing, Campus Planning, February through August, 1966; June through September,
1969
D.P. Taylor, Plant Pathology, June through August, 1968
M.D. Thorne, Research, September through December, 1966
M.K. von Oppen, Agricultural Economics, September, 1970, to September, 1971
H.L. Wakeland, Undergraduate Teaching, January through February, 1971
W.H. Walker, Ground Water Hydrology, January through February, 1969; January through
February, 1970
S.W. Williams, Agricultural Economics, July, 1969, to August, 1971
T.H. Wilson, Entomology (MUCIA) , September, 1969, to September, 1970
128
Participant Training at Illinois
In AID contract terminology, Indian staff members who come to the United States
for special training are called participants. The first such individual to come to
the University of Illinois under the original Allahabad contract arrived in Urbana
in September, 1952, and the last one to come under the regional contract arrived in
January, 1964. There were about eight from each of the cooperating colleges plus
a few from research stations and from the state governments to make a total of 104.
Of these, 58 obtained a master's degree and 4 stayed long enough to complete the
requirements for a doctorate. Of the remaining 42, who came for nondegree programs,
most already had either an M.S. or a Ph.D before coming.
Under the two agricultural university contracts, 136 participants came to Il-
linois through 1972, of whom 85 were in advanced-degree programs. This means that
about 20 percent of the staff members at the Indian institutions in the program
have come to the United States for additional training, enough to provide a strong
tie between their home institutions and the University of Illinois.
The participant program proved to one of the most significant parts of the
entire contract arrangement.
129
Illinois in Africa
Njala University College, Njala, Sierra Leone
A team from Sierra Leone, representing the Ministries ot Natural Resources,
Education, and Development, and the USAID Mission, came to the United States in
July-August, 1962, and visited five colleges of agriculture, including the one at
the University of Illinois. Following that visit, a survey team from the Univer-
sity of Illinois went to Sierra Leone in February-March, 1963, and recommended that
an agricultural experiment station and a teacher training facility located at Njala,
about 120 miles from the coast, be combined as the nucleus for a college. The re-
port was accepted by the Sierra Leone government, and Njala University College was
authorized, with S.T. Matturi as Principal, effective June 1, 1963.
In October of that year, Karl E. Gardner as Chief of Party and M. Ray Karnes
as Education Adviser returned to Sierra Leone to help get the program under way.
Instruction began one year later with 101 students enrolled. In the meantime, the
West African institute for Oil Palm Research at Njala and the Rice Research Station
at Rokpura had been incorporated into the college structure.
In early 1967 the college at Njala and Fourah Bay College at Freetown became con-
stituent colleges comprising the newly established University of Sierra Leone. In
the brief period of its existence, NUC has demonstrated that the land-grant college
approach is effective for agricultural and educational development in Sierra Leone.
Through 1972 the following persons served at Njala under the Illinois/AID contract,
for the periods indicated:
A.H. Beavers, Soils, April through June, 1967
J.M. Barrow (Atkins, Barrow £ Graham, Inc., Urbana) , Campus Planning, March through
July, 1964
W.D. Boston (OES) , Animal Science, August, 1969, to January, 1973
E.A. Brams (University of Florida), Soils, August, 1967, to March, 1970
Hazel S. Brooks, Administrative Assistant, September, 1964, to November, 1966
R.K. Brown, Science and Education, February, 1966, to January, 1968; January
through February, 1970
J.E. Crawford (Stanford University), Adviser on Student Affairs, August, 1966, to
August, 1968
H.M. Dyasi (Njala University College), Teacher and Science Education, September,
1968, to October, 1970
E.J. Ehler (USDA) , Administrative Secretary, August, 1966, to November, 1969
K.E. Fiscus, Education, June, 1965, to June, 1967
K.E. Gardner, Adviser to Principal and Chief of Party, September, 1963, to March,
1964
130
W.D. Green, Accounts and Records, January through June, 1964; October through Novem-
ber, 1964
J. A. Hagler (USAID/Sierra Leone) Agricultural Education, October through November,
1964
J.R. Harlan, Consultant in Research, November through December, 1968
A.G. Harms, Agricultural Economics and Farm Management, June through July, 1970;
September through October, 1972
W.W. Hodges (Pittsburgh Plate Glass Works, Kokomo, Indiana), Agricultural Shop
Specialist, July, 1964, to January, 1972
C.G. Hurter (Fort Hayes State University), Assistant to Chief of Party, March, 1969,
to March, 1972
L.L. Inman (Near East Foundation), Adviser in Crops, November, 1969, to March, 1970
M.R. Karnes, Chief of Party, July, 1967, to October, 1970
G.L. Karr (Central Missouri State College), Agricultural Economics, June, 1967, to
October, 1970
Joseph Kastelie, Animal Science, September, 1964, to September, 1966
F.H. Klassen, Teacher Training, March, 1964, to February, 1966
Patricia Klassen, English Language, September, 1964, to February, 1966
T.L. Kurtz, Consultant in Soil Science, March through April, 1968
R.F. Long, Consultant in Extension Education, October, 1970, to November, 1972
K.J. Mahoney (Peace Corps, Freetown), Extension Education, September, 1968, to
August, 1970
S.W. Melsted, Soils, September, 1965, to August, 1967; October through December,
1971
V.V. Myers (California), Printing Consultant, October, 1966, to August, 1967
A.O. Njoku, Agricultural Economics, September, 1969, to September, 1970
R.T. Odell, Chief of Party, January, 1966, to August, 1967; September, 1970, to
August, 1972
Rena K. Roberts (USAID/Turkey) , Home Economics, September, 1964, to December, 1969
E.C. Seyler, Admissions and Student Records, September, 1964
W.N Thompson, Chief of Party, March, 1964, to March, 1966
131
R.W. Touchberry, Dairy Science, June through July, 1965
E.H. Tyner, Consultant, Rice Research, February through April, 1969
W.M. Walker, Statistical Analysis, April through August, 1967
R.O. Weibel, Tropical Crops, January, 1966, to November, 1968
V. I. West, Agricultural Economics, September, 1971, to September, 1973
D.A. Wilson, English Language, February, 1966, to August, 1967
H.R. Wack, Agricultural Extension, September, 1965, to August, 1967
V. Whittaker, Research Assistant, September, 1969, to September, 1970
N.A. Worker (FAO) , Dean of Agriculture, September, 1967, to December, 1971
G.S. Zimmerman (Flora, Illinois, High School) Agricultural Education, August, 1967,
to August, 1971
111 inois in Jordan
Contract NESA 64-1 between the University of Illinois and the U.S. Agency for
International Development, covering the period from January 7, 1964, to February
28, 1966, was drawn to assist the Ministry of Agriculture in Jordan in establish-
ing and operating an agricultural information service in its Agricultural Exten-
sion Department. The primary functions of the small Illinois group were to develop
and produce information materials and to train extension workers and other agri-
cultural leaders in the effective use of information methods.
After a detailed study of the local situation, a proposal for developing the
agricultural information service was prepared and presented to the appropriate
Jordanian offcials in March, 1964, and later presented to and approved by the
director and deputy director of the USAID Mission. The services agreed upon were:
1. Publish the findings of the research staff in simple and usable form for
extension workers, farmers, and schools teaching agriculture. Only limited publi-
cation had been done previously.
2. Provide information on agricultural matters to the Hashemite Broadcasting
Service and to Jordanian newspapers so that it could currently be made available
to farmers and other interested persons.
3. Make visual aids and production services a vital part of the agricultural
information service so that leaflets and similar small publications could be dup-
licated within the section.
4. Appoint a full-time coordinator or head of the information section, who
would establish a plan of work, counsel and advise the staff, and help create a
favorable working environment for the staff.
5. Develop training schools at which extension staff members could gain in-
formation about effective communication methods.
132
These objectives were accomplished in varying degrees during the period of
the contract. A staff of ten persons was assembled, and four of the ten were sent
to the United States as participants for a period of seven months. Additional
training for the staff was provided by three short-term advisors from the Illinois
campus who advised on visual aids and printing processes; design and layout for
publications; radio programming; and photography. Throughout the two-year period
of the contract, one or more advisors provided daily consultation and on-the-spot
assistance in all phases of the information office operations.
Nine single-subject publications of 8 to 24 pages each were edited by the sec-
tion and printed in Arabic from July, 1964, to December, 1965. A quarterly maga-
zine "Agriculture in Jordan" and a monthly newsletter were started in 1965. A
file of nearly 1,000 usable photo negatives was developed. A 15-minute daily farm
radio program was provided to and by the Hashemite Broadcasting Service in Amman. Ex-
hibits were prepared for a tomato field day, the Baghdad International Fair, and
the Jericho Orange Festival.
Perhaps most encouraging of all was recognition by the government of Jordan
that such an information service is needed in the Ministry of Agriculture and that
it can be very helpful in promoting more and better-quality food production.
The following Illinois staff members served in Jordan:
Harold D. Guither, Chief of Party, January, 1964, to February, 1966
Glen M. Broom, Radio Services, June to October, 1965
Victor R. Stephen, Visual Aids and Graphic Arts, February to June, 1965
John L. Woods, Photographic Processing, October, 1965, to February, 1966
Publications
Several publications developed under AID contracts and prepared wholly or in
part by University of Illinois staff members have been directly related to over-
seas service and programs. Some are summarized below.
Manual on Aided Self-Help Housing
This manual, prepared by Professor Keith H. Hinchcliff, University of Illinois,
was an outgrowth of a two-year period of service in Indonesia. Its purpose was to
aid in the training of leaders in aided self-help housing, particularly for low-
cost housing and for use in underdeveloped areas. It was based on a comprehensive
assembly of experiences, visual aids, procedures, and subject material drawn from
Puerto Rico, the Philippines, and Indonesia. It was published by the University
of Illinois Press.
Resource Book for Rural Universities in the Developing Countries
This book, prepared under Contract AID/csd-349, by Professor Harold W. Hannah
and Robert Caughey, outlined the problems encountered and procedures to be follow-
ed in establishing and operating agricultural colleges or universities in lesser
developed countries. The purpose of the book was threefold:
1. To express as meaningfully as possible, and in as many instances as are
appropriate, those underlying assumptions and principles which give the
land-grant institutions their vitality.
133
2. To explain and discuss the general structure which seems to have best
promoted these underlying assumptions and principles.
3. To provide a reservoir of detailed and factual information about the in-
ternal organization and functioning of such a university, from which may
spring ideas and answers about what to do and what not to do.
The book was published by the University of Illinois Press.
Mission Overseas: A Handbook for U.S. Families in Developing Countries
The information in this 294-page book by Harold D. Guither and W.N. Thompson
of the Department of Agricultural Economics was based on a survey of nearly 600
university personnel and their wives who lived in thirty-nine developing countries
between 1951 and 1966.
The primary emphasis was on the personal well-being of families overseas, in-
cluding such details as: personal and professional gains and losses; arranging
care of a home, furnishing, and pets; what and how to learn about the country and
language; schooling for children of different ages and grade levels; housing prob-
lems, servants; goods and services; illness; transportation—in short, how to
live and work as foreigners.
Reading references on specific countries were included.
The book was published in 1969 by the University of Illinois Press.
Building Institutions to Serve Agriculture
This 250-page summary report of the CIC-AID. Rural Development Research
Project was published in 1968 by the Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC)
Purdue University, Lafayette, Indiana; it was edited bv Robert L. Clodius of
the University of Wisconsin. It includes chapters on the problem, the background,
effects on host institutions, effects on U.S. universities, development of the pro-
ject, operation of contract programs, basic factor? conditioning success, and over-
all costs and accomplishments.
The Establishment of Agricultural Universities in India: A Case Study of the Role
of USAID-U.S . University Technical Assistance
This is one portion of the final report of the CIC-AID Rural Development Re-
search Project, Contract No. AID/ csd-840. The report by Kathleen M. Propp was
submitted in February, 1968, to the Graduate College of the University of Illinois
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in
Political Science. It was published also as University of Illinois College of
Agriculture Special Publication 15 (67 pages) .
AID-University Rural Development Contracts 1951-1966
This 95-page report by Kathleen M. Propp, Harold D. Guither, Earl H. Regnier,
and William N. Thompson was completed in June, 1968. It is one portion of the
final report of the CIC-AID Rural Development Research Project, Contract No. AID/
csd-840.
134
INTSOY
Of the total world production of soybeans (estimated at about 43.5 million metric
tons in 1972), about 75 percent is produced in North America and 17 percent in
Mainland China. Other important producing areas include Brazil, the U.S.S.R.,
and Indonesia. Virtually the entire North and South American crop has tradition-
ally been processed for oil, with the residual meal used principally for livestock
feeding. Some varieties have long been used as human food in the Orient, and
recent work with many of the newer commercial varieties has established the high
potential of the soybean as a means of alleviating the critical protein-calorie
deficiencies in many parts of the world.
About 40 percent of the total dry-matter content of whole soybeans is protein,
with amino-acid distribution close to that recommended by FAO for maximum protein
utilization. Whole soybeans are also high in caloric value, containing about 20
percent of edible fat.
Illinois has been the leading state in soybean acreage since 1924, and con-
sequently has had a long-standing interest in production, harvesting, marketing,
processing, and use of soybeans. The College of Agricultural Sciences of Puerto
Rico at Mayaguez has been conducting research on food legumes for many years and
recently on soybeans. It was therefore a natural development for the two
colleges of agriculture--at Urbana and Mayaguez--to formalize a cooperative re-
search and educational program in 1973, to be known as INTSOY, the International
Soybean Program. Its director is W.N. Thompson, at the University of Illinois.
The major emphasis of INTSOY is on exploiting the unique potential of soybeans
as a source of protein for direct human consumption. This includes research on
the problems of tropical and subtropical environments as logical areas for increas-
ing production; and on nutrition and processing to expand the use of soybean pro-
tein foods in human diets.
Financial support in 1974 came primarily from the U.S. Agency for International
Development, for cooperative work with and through international research centers,
foundations, universities, and other agencies. Soybean variety evaluation trials,
for example, were being conducted in 1973 in 33 different countries in Africa,
Asia, Asia Minor, and in North Central, and South America.
Results of these trials provided concrete evidence that some U.S. soybean
varieties are adapted and can achieve high levels of production in tropical and
subtropical environments. Promising results had been obtained from several years'
production trials instituted in India in 1965 in cooperation with G.B. Pant. Uni-
versity of Agriculture and Technology (Pantnagar) and Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi
Vishnia Vidyalaya (Jabalpur) . Trials in 11 countries from 1969 to 1972 resulted
in general yield levels that far exceeded expectations at all locations except
Thailand and Indonesia. Yields in excess of 3,000 kilograms per hectare (45
bushels per acre) were obtained at several locations. Careful management is, how-
evei essential if top production is to be obtained with most "modern" soybean
varieties. This includes adequate fertility, effective inoculation, high population
per hectare, and thorough weed control.
135
Assuming that soybean production is found to be economically feasible in a
given country, there remains the important problem of processing the beans into
acceptable forms of human food. Examples of what is being done in this area
include:
1. Development of a dry, stable dal for India and other countries. Experi-
ments carried out in India indicated that a suitable dal could be produced either
in a 1 ,000-kilograms-per-day processing plant or at the village level for about
two rupees (27 cents U.S.) per kilogram.
2. Direct preparation of soybeans as human food, in either cooked or roasted
form.
3. Manufacture of whole-soybean pouder by roller (drum) drying, to be used
as a protein supplement in wheat, corn, or rice flours.
4. Manufacture of soybean-corn (1:1) powder by roller drying, to be used as
a protein supplement in recipes for tortillas or breakfast foods.
5. Manufacture of soybean-rice (1:1) powder by roller drying, to be used in
many recipes that normally contain rice.
6. Manufacture of soybean-banana (1:1) powder by roller drying, intended pri-
marily as a weaning food, but also for use as an ingredient in such baked foods
as cookies and cakes.
With increasingly intensive agriculture and crowding of plants by narrower
row spacing, not to mention a limited genetic base, plant diseases become ever
more important. This is reflected in the growth of the soybean pathology staff
at the University of Illinois, with intensive studies under way on root, stem, and
leaf diseases, as well as on seedborne and seedling diseases, and soybean viruses.
Puerto Rico is an excellent tropical laboratory for conducting studies on
causes, characteristics, and control of plant diseases and prevalent insects, as
well as on improved cultural practices and weed control. The island is unique in
that it offers a rich variation of ecological conditions within short distances.
Areas with annual rainfall from more than 150 to less than 30 inches are located
only a few miles apart and are readily accesible. Nearly all soil orders are al-
so found on the island. Puerto Rico is easily accessible from both the United
States and Latin America. Its bilingual, bicultural population, attractive liv-
ing conditions, abundant housing, pleasant climate, good school system, and health
facilities, as well as its numerous cultural and recreational advantages, make
it an attractive site for the tropical component of the International Soybean
Resource Base. An additional primary advantage is its political and social stabi-
lity.
136
LEPTOSPIROSIS
Leptospirosis in cattle and swine is a disease caused by a variety of serotypes widely
distributed throughout the United States. Eradication is not feasible because of
extensive reservoirs of many serotypes in such wildlife hosts as deer, skunks, rac-
coons, opossums, house and field mice, rats, muskrats, bobcats, squirrels, woodchucks,
and foxes .
Control of the disease with bacterins is the most effective procedure currently
available. Bacterins stimulate the host to develop neutralizing antibodies, thus pro-
viding protection without interfering with field testing programs.
Vaccination studies were conducted by L.E. Hanson and co-workers in a herd of
approximately 900 purebred and grade Hereford cattle at the Dixon Springs Agricul-
tural Center in southern Illinois. One-half of the herd was vaccinated twice a year
from 1959 to 1964, and all of the herd has been vaccinated once a year since with a
commercial L. pomona bacterin. Vaccination with an experimental L. hardjo bacterin
was started in 1967, and one-half of the herd has been vaccinated each year since.
These procedures have resulted in a significant and continued decrease in reactor
rates to L, pomona and L. hardjo serotypes.
Immunologic studies conducted with serum from these cattle indicated increases
in two classes of antibodies. One antibody, IgM, which is primarily responsible for
the agglutination reaction, showed a low response and a relatively short duration.
The other antibody, IgG, which was shown to be primarily responsible for protection
and not detected by the conventional agglutination test, was the primary response of
the cattle to vaccination, and the antibodies persisted for approximately one year.
Two other serotypes, L. grippotyphosa and L. 'Later 'ohaemorrhag'iae 3 have been
isolated from cattle in Illinois, and L. aan-ioola has been isolated from swine. Since
the immune response is serotype specific, protection of an animal is dependent on the
use of bacterins containing serotypes prevalent in the particular area. Currently,
L. pomona, L, canioola, and L. ■icterohaemorrhagi-a& vaccines are commercially avail-
able. Research with L. hardjo and L. grtppotyphosa bacterins indicates that they
too are effective in controlling leptospirosis in cattle and swine.
137
LISTERELLOSIS IN DOMESTIC ANIMALS
The causative organism, Listevella monocytogenes _, was first isolated by Murray, Webb
and Swann in England in 1926 during an epizootic among laboratory rabbits and guinea
pigs. Clinical symptoms and pathologic lesions vary with the host species.
The first field outbreak in Illinois was found in a flock of 300 feeder lambs
during the winter of 1937-38; and the first outbreak in cattle was in two-year-old
feeder steers in February, 1938. Morbidity in these and other outbreaks was rela-
tively low, but mortality in affected animals was very high.
In its usual encephalitic form, listerellosis was quite readily diagnosed by
bacteriologic examination of the medulla at autopsy. Once diagnosis was established
in a herd, the clinical symptoms made it possible to recognize affected animals quiti
easily.
Attempts at immunization of rabbits, guinea pigs, sheep, and cattle by means of
antisera were unsuccessful. Little success was obtained either by treatment of clin:
cally affected sheep with sulfanilamide.
Accounts of several other outbreaks of the disease in Illinois herds and flocks
can be found in Bulletin 499 of the Illinois Station by Robert Graham, N.D. Levine,
and C.C. Morrill, published in December, 1943.
138
LIVESTOCK WASTE MANAGEMENT STUDIES
Raising livestock in confinement offers many advantages over the older method of
having animals scattered over a considerable acreage of land, but the waste handling
problem becomes of major importance. Often the most urgent aspect of the problem
is the manure odor that emanates from animal buildings. This becomes increasingly
serious when huge volumes of wastes are concentrated on small land areas. Pollution
of waterways must also be considered, because raw livestock waste contains 10 to 20
percent solids and has a 5-day biochemical oxygen demand (B0Dq) nearly 100 times that
of municipal waste.
Illinois agricultural engineers and animal scientists undertook a study of
swine waste management problems encountered when the animals were raised in confine-
ment on self-cleaning slotted floors. Objectives of the study were to refine the
knowledge of the physical, chemical, and biological properties of livestock wastes
and to develop a waste-management system that:
1. Could be integrated with labor-saving slotted floors.
2. Would prevent air pollution both inside and around the
livestock production buildings.
3. Would eliminate surface and ground water pollution.
4. Would utilize the intermediate and final products of the
waste-management process.
5. Would be economically feasible for the livestock enterprise.
The aerobic method of treating livestock wastes was selected because previous
studies had shown that under proper conditions the method was odorless and would
stabilize the oxygen demand of the wastes.
Preliminary oxidation-ditch studies were made in the fall of 1966 at the Hon-
egger Research Farm near Fairbury, Illinois, and were continued at the University
of Illinois Moorman Swine Breeding Research Farm. The trials conducted in this
study were limited to buildings used for finishing swine.
The in-the-building oxidation ditches used were adapted from the Pasveer oxi-
dation waste treatment plant that had been developed in the Netherlands. They con-
sist of continuous gutters beneath self-cleaning slotted floors. The gutters have
vertical side walls and shallow liquid depths--about 2 feet--with no provision for
settling and supernatant withdrawal. The aeration motor runs continuously, displac-
ing the mixed liquor through a standpipe overflow into a lagoon, keeping the liquid
volume in the ditch constant as raw waste from the hogs drops through the slotted
floor.
Ultimate disposal of the overflow material still had to be considered. Both
refeeding of the organic solids after separation from the liquids and feeding of
the oxidation ditch mixed liquor (ODML) were undertaken with finishing swine of
about 50 kg. initial weight. Suspended solids passing through a 200-mesh screen
were concentrated by high-speed centrifugation and dried. The resulting material
was found to contain 75 percent crude protein (Kjeldahl nitrogen x 6.25) and rela-
tively high levels of several essential amino acids.
139
When the oxidation ditch mixed liquor was fed at a ratio of two parts liquid
to 1 part of a dry 12-percent-protein corn-soybean diet, pigs grew significantly
faster and more efficiently than when well water was used in place of the ODML. In
other trials the ODML was run directly into water troughs for swine self-fed a 12-
percent-protein corn-soybean diet. The pigs dranJc all of the overflow from the
oxidation ditch, thereby completely solving the problem of waste disposal. Further-
more, taste-panel tests comparing pork chop samples from hogs fed ODML and from con-
trol hogs showed that taste and odor were not influenced by feeding the aerobically
processed material.
Similar tests with beef cattle on slotted floors, begun in 1967, have been
equally successful. The lagoon gradually fills with solids and has to be emptied
about twice a year. The liquid is pumped off, and the solid material is spread on
the land as fertilizer.
The project has shown that use of an oxidation ditch beneath slotted floors is
a successful method of waste management in confined livestock buildings, with low
labor, low odors, and a high degree of pollution control. The only disturbing fac-
tor seems to be the cost of operating the aerators, which is discouraging to many
producers. Refeeding the processed waste can help offset the operational expense
and also reduce the amount of waste effluent from the buildings.
140
LOW-TEMPERATURE DRYING AND CONDITIONING OF SHELLED CORN
Drying of field-shelled corn to proper moisture levels for sale or for holding on
the farm is an almost universal problem for farmers in Illinois and surrounding
states. The importance of grain quality and the interest in it are shown by the at-
tendance of 100 to 300 men and women at the annual grain conditioning conference
which has been offered by the Department of Agricultural Engineering since 1962.
Those attending have included farmers, elevator operators, grain dealers and distri-
butors, equipment manufacturers, and electric power suppliers from five to ten states
and Canada.
F.W. Andrew, G.C. Shove, and E.F. Olver of the Department of Agricultural Engi-
neering developed a system of low- temperature drying that has had wide acceptance.
It has stood the test of good and bad seasons for drying, best exemplified perhaps
by the contrast between 1973 when weather and other conditions were nearly ideal,
and 1972 when conditions were highly unfavorable, and everything seemed to go wrong.
Maintenance of high-quality grain in existing trade channels involves:
1. Improving harvesting techniques to minimize such grain damage as cracking
of corn kernels.
2. Developing varieties and strains that are well adapted to harvesting with
mechanized equipment.
3. Maximizing the use of solar energy for early drying of the crop at minimum
cost.
4. Making proper use of appropriate conditioning systems, as indicated by lo-
cal conditions.
Successful low-temperature drying can be thought of as a "middle of-the-road"
process which avoids both the mold problem often experienced when drying grain by
natural air during unfavorable weather and the problem of possible overdrying, brit-
tle kernels, and caramelizing of the starch when high heat inputs are used. The sys-
tem calls for the use of natural air plus 4 to 6 degrees F. of heat, including the
motor heat, and an air flow of 1 to 1-1/2 cfm per bushel of corn with an initial
moisture content of no more than 24 percent. With 26-percent -moisture corn, the air
flow must be increased to 2 or more cfm per bushel.
Several weeks of weather favorable to low-temperature drying can be expected
in the Corn Belt during October and November. Final moisture content of corn dried
with unheated air during this period will probably be 17 to 19 percent because rel-
ative humidity of the air is likely to be about 80 percent. Drying under such condi-
tions would take about a nonth. During a wet fall, the addition of some heat will be
necessary.
141
A most important consideration is to operate the grain-conditioning system so
as to avoid the development of mold in the high-moisture zone at the top of the bin
load of corn. Mold curves have been developed to facilitate proper management. They
show, for example, that when the grain temperature is 70° F. or higher, mold will
develop in about a week in corn stored at a moisture content of 24 percent or more.
By contrast, corn containing no more than 18 percent noisture can be held for as
long as a month at 70° F. , or for three months at 55° F. before there is danger of
mold developing.
The fan horsepower and heater kw requirements for low-temperature drying have
been determined with considerable accuracy, and can be summarized as follows:
For shelled corn, using 1 cfm/bushel
Bin
size,
ft.
Level fill
Static
pressure,
Fan horse-
Kw
for 5° F.
Grain
rise in
Diameter
depth
(bushels)
inches HO
power
tei
nperature
16
16
2,700
2-1/2
3
5
18
16
3,300
2-1/2
3
5
22
20
6,000
4
7-1/2
10
24
18
6,500
3
5
11
27
18
8,000
3
7-1/2
13
27
20
9,000
4
10
15
34
18
13,000
3
12-1/2
22
36
13
10,000
1-1/2
7-1/2
17
36
18
15,000
3
15
25
40
20
20,000
4
20
33
For 1-1/2 cfm per bushel, fill only to two-thirds the above indicated depth;
for 2 cfm per bushel, fill to only half the indicated depth. The total temperature
rise will be about 7 degrees, since heat from the fan motor will raise air tempera-
ture about 2 degrees .
Some Management Variations
Dryeration involves the use of a high-temperature drying process to dry the
grain to about 17-18 percent moisture content. The grain is then removed from the
dryer and placed in a temporary storage bin where it is allowed to stand (steep) for
4 to 8 hours. After the steeping period, the grain is cooled with an airflow of 1/2
to 1 cfm per bushel. When it has cooled sufficiently (about 12 to 20 hours), it is
moved to the final storage bin.
Aeration consists of blowing a small amount of air such as 1/20 to 1/5 cfm per
bushel through the grain steadily or larger amounts of air intermittently to keep
the grain at the same temperature as that of the outside air. This control of air
currents through the grain mass helps to keep the grain in condition, and should
prevent the condensation of moisture in the top layer of grain in the bin, thereby
reducing the likelihood of mold.
Stir drying involves mixing the dry grain in the bottom of the bin with the
moist grain at the top, thereby drying the full depth of grain uniformly instead of
drying the bottom first and the top last .
142
High-Low Temperature Drying is similar to dryeration, except that the grain is
removed from the dryer at 20 percent moisture (either before or after cooling) and
placed in the final storage bin. The drying is then completed by using the low-
temperature drying process. If the grain is removed from the high-temperature dryer,
there will be little if any condensation of moisture on the underside of the storage
bin roof.
Cooling the grain with cold night air is a worthwhile management procedure, es-
pecially if it is necessary or desirable to hold the grain as long as possible at a
fairly high moisture content.
Preservatives (acids) may be used on high-moisture grain as a further aid to
holding corn over prolonged periods without drying. Such acid-preserved corn must
usually be fed rather than sold.
Close and frequent observation of grain-moisture content is essential during
drying and even more important during storage. A moisture tester is therefore almost
a necessity on the farm.
Insuring High-Quality Grain
In order to have high-quality grain when it is removed from storage, one must
first have high-quality grain to store. This means clean grain, with all trash and
fine particles removed, so that there will be no hindrance to proper air flow during
drying. The top of the pile must be level, as a further assurance of even air flow,
and total depth must not be too great for the fan to force air up through the grain
mass at a uniform rate.
Agricultural engineers offer the following summary of management suggestions:
1. Grain should be free of excess dirt, fines, and chaff. Screening devices
are recommended.
2. Keep grain level as the bin is filled. Grain-leveling devices are recommended.
3. Start the fan as soon as grain is placed in the bin, and continue to operate
even during periods of rain or high-humidity weather until the grain is dry or air
temperature drops to and remains below freezing for 24 hours or more. When the tem-
perature rises above freezing, the fan should be restarted.
4. Open, and leave open, all roof hatches in order to provide a large air-
escape area.
5. Use a mercury-in-glass thermometer for checking the temperature of both
ambient air and plenum air to determine air temperature rise.
6. Attach a manometer to the air plenum to measure static pressure, and use
manufacturer's fan-performance charts to determine air flow.
7. Do not exceed design criteria. If necessary, limit grain depth to obtain
proper air flow in relation to grain moisture content.
8. After drying is completed, close roof hatches and cover fan inlets to pre-
vent drifting air, particularly high-humidity winter air, from adding moisture back
to dry grain.
143
9. Aerate dry grain to keep it cool and to prevent moisture migration. The
drying fan can be used for aeration by operating it about 12 hours every 7 to 10 days.
10. Practice good safety rules at all times while working in or around grain
bins and drying equipment.
144
THE M BLOOD-GROUP SYSTEM AND
SURVIVAL OF SUFFOLK AND TARGHEE LAMBS
In 1965 while on sabbatical leave at the United Kingdom Agricultural Research Council
Animal Breeding Research Organization, Edinburgh, Scotland, B.A. Rasmusen of the
Department of Animal Science typed 115 Scottish Blackface, Welsh Mountain, and Cheviot
sheep for red blood cell antigens. When comparing his results with those of J.G.
Hall, who was determining red blood cell potassium levels, they discovered that the
same genes controlled antigens in the M blood-group system and red blood cell potas-
sium levels.
Two years later, blood samples collected from Suffolk, Targhee, and Suffolk x
Targhee crossbred sheep at the Dixon Springs Agricultural Center were used by B.A.
Rasmusen and J.M. Lewis to study the relationship between types in the M blood-group
system and lamb mortality. High (HK) and low (LK1 red-cell potassium, together with
types in the M blood-group system, was used to classify sheep as M (homozygous MM}
HK) , ML (heterozygous Mm3 LK) , and L (homozygous mm3 LK) .
There were 7 M, 10 ML, and 7 L Suffolk rams, and 1 M, 6 ML, and 15 L Targhee rams
Mortality was relatively high for both M(HK) and L (homozygous LK) Suffolk rams and
for M(HK) Suffolk ewes. In the Targhees, mortality was relatively low for all groups,
and there were few matings involving HK sheep. When offspring from all four matings
in which a 1:1 ratio of ML to L lambs was expected were pooled, there were 80 ML
lambs and 124 L lambs, a highly significant deviation from the 1:1 ratio, indicating
that in the Dixon Springs flock L (homozygous LK) lambs have an advantage over ML
(heterozygous LK) lambs.
145
THE MAIZE GENETICS LABORATORY
The only project involving worldwide sources for the maintenance of a comprehensive
collection of genetic chromosomal tester stocks and chromosomal aberrations of maize
is the one maintained at Urbana, Illinois, under the supervision of R.J. Lambert of
the Agronomy Department. The project is the outgrowth of an informal program begun
in the late 1920's under the leadership of the late R.A. Emerson of Cornell Univer-
sity, in which maize geneticists cooperated informally in the maintenance and dis-
tribution of genetic stocks of maize which were grown and stored at Cornell. Seed
samples were distributed on request to maize workers throughout the world.
In 1953 the collection was moved to the University of Illinois, where it was
supervised by E.B. Patterson until 1966, when Dr. Lambert assumed responsibility for
its continuing maintenance. Since 1959, the National Science Foundation has provided
the necessary funding for this work.
The nucleus of stocks represented by the Cornell collection has been greatly
augmented by the addition of new genetic and chromosomal testers from a large number
of sources. The importance of the project is well illustrated by the fact that from
the early 1960!s to the early 1970's about 1,600 samples were distributed annually,
nearly a fourth of them in response to an average of 40 requests a year from foreign
countries.
Selection of stocks to be added to the collection is governed chiefly by the
needs of maize geneticists, but increasing use of the collection is being made by
maize breeders, biochemists, plant physiologists, and teachers.
The current program covers broad areas of maize genetics, some of which are:
1. Assembly of genetic stocks: Locating seed sources of older traits not al-
ready in the collection; accepting for maintenance new traits or gene combinations
made available by maize geneticists; and attempting to find certain "lost traits"
that may be in various stocks.
2. Maintenance and seed increase: Replenishing seed supplies of stocks as
needed; and conversion of certain unadapted stocks to desirable genetic backgrounds
adapted to the Corn Belt.
3. Distribution of stocks and information: Filling requests for seed, along
with any necessary information as to classification, linkage relationships, and use;
and providing information on the use of genetic traits or gene combinations for spe-
cific studies.
4. Evaluation of new traits and new gene combinations: Evaluating new traits
for their suitability as genetic markers; and determining for certain combinations
whether any genetic interactions exist that could interfere with accurate classifi-
cation of any of the traits involved.
5. Confirmation of pedigrees: Making pedigree confirmation tests of seedling
traits in the greenhouse or of mature plants in observation nurseries as the need
arises; making appropriate test crosses to determine or confirm pedigrees; and making
homozygosis tests to maintain the large collection of chromosome translocations and
inversions .
146
6. Allelism testing: Testing new traits submitted each year to determine wheth-
er they are allelic to traits already in the collection; and also making such tests
on new traits that occur in stocks that may have been in the collection for some time.
7. Assignment of genes to chromosomes: Making necessary studies to assign un-
located traits to specific chromosomes, using A-B and waxy-translocation stocks; and
using nonwaxy translocation stocks and inversions when results of the preceding tests
are negative.
8. Chromosome mapping: Interest has shifted to the finding of precise locations
for those traits that are good chromosome markers; with emphasis on endosperm, non-
lethal seedling, and mature plant traits.
9. Development of new combinations of markers: New combinations of traits are
obtained from other geneticists as they become available; and seed of new combina-
tions of traits obtained from the linkage studies just mentioned is increased and
added to the stock list.
There are now about 130,000 individually pedigreed samples in the collection,
and there is growing concern about insurance against possible destruction of the col-
lection by a natural catastrophe. Some of the cultures have been maintained as long
as fifty years. In each of the past few years, about 35,000 plants have been grown
each summer, and about 2,000 seedling tests have been run each winter in greenhouse
sand benches. Information from these tests and notes on traits appearing in field
plantings are used to determine genotypes in the current generation and to supple-
ment information on previous generations.
A complete inventory of each year's harvest is made, listing known pedigree in-
formation for each ear. A list of the most useful genetic stocks is submitted annual-
ly to the Maize Genetics Cooperation Newsletter to be used as a basis for seed re-
quests. Seed samples, usually 50 kernels or less, are provided free of charge to
research workers throughout the world.
147
McLEAN COUNTY SYSTEM OF SWINE SANITATION
A significant step in efficient swine production was taken when the McLean
County system for raising pigs free from worms and necrotic infection was first
tried with fall pigs on the farm of G.C. Johnstone, near Bloomington in 1919. The
system had been devised by B.H. Ransom and H.B. Raffensperger of the U.S. Bureau
of Animal Industry. The Johnstone trial was so successful that the plan was soon
extended to a number of other farms in McLean County; and six years later 608 far-
mers in 61 Illinois counties were cooperating with the College of Agriculture in
further testing the system and demonstrating its merits. Results obtained were
summarized by E.T. Robbins, associate professor of animal husbandry extension, as
follows :
'The usual number of pigs have been raised from one- fourth fewer sows; the sows
have raised 98 percent of the pigs saved at farrowing time; almost no runts have
been found among the sanitation pigs; and the pigs are heavier at four months
of age, more uniform in weight and condition, ready for market earlier, and
produced more cheaply than pigs raised under common conditions.
The system involved four simple but essential steps designed to prevent the
little pigs, until they are at least four months old and reasonably resistant to
infestation, from swallowing incubated worm eggs:
1. Clean the farrowing quarters to remove dirt and worm eggs. Scrub with
1 pound of lye in 30 gallons of boiling hot water. Then spray with 1 pound of
compound cresol solution in 4 gallons of water. The hot water kills worm eggs; the
lye loosens the dirt; the disinfectant destroys germs of infectious diseases. Scrub-
bing can be made easier by keeping the floors wet for a day or two to soak the dirt
loose.
2. Wash the sow's sides and udder with soap and water before putting her in a
clean farrowing pen. This removes worm eggs which the pigs might otherwise swallow
when they suck.
3. Haul pigs and sows to pasture, unless they can be driven all the way over
ground which has not been used for hogs within a year. This is not so important if
sows are moved to pasture before farrowing. The pasture should be one that has been
cultivated since last used by hogs.
4. Confine pigs to clean pasture until they are at least four months old. A
pig-tight fence is essential. An acre of good alfalfa may furnish enough forage
for five sows and their pigs; but many pastures will accommodate no more than three
sows with their pigs per acre; and some will require an acre for each sow.
Enterprise cost records secured from 25 farms in McLean and Woodford Counties
in a carefully supervised study of the cost of producing pork showed clearly that
swine sanitation materially reduced the amount of feed required to grow and fatten
pigs. Weanling pigs on eight farms where the sanitation system was practiced quite
completely required 399 pounds of grain and other concentrates to produce 100 pounds
of gain, while weanling pigs on eight other farms where no attempt was made to keep
pigs out of infested quarters took 501 pounds of grain and other concentrates for
each 100 pounds of gain.
148
MEAT FOR THE TABLE
In the mid-1800' s most Illinois beef cattle were driven east to be sold in Lancaster
County, Pennsylvania, where they were finished for sale in Philadelphia. Sometimes
all or part of a drove would be sold along the way in Ohio. After the Chicago Union
Stock Yards were built in 1865, both cattle and hogs were driven from central Illinois
to Chicago. The trip from McLean County with 200 to 300 head of cattle or as many
as 1,000 hogs took 11 or 12 days.
Many farm families butchered their own pork, and often beef as well; and arrange-
ments with a hired man or tenant commonly included the privilege of keeping a cow,
raising two or three hogs, and keeping a small flock of chickens, all to be fed from
undivided feed on the farm.
One of the early publications of the Illinois Station was Bulletin 78 entitled
"Market Classes and Grades of Cattle, With Suggestions for Interpreting Market Quali-
ty." It was a 67-page report of a detailed study made by H.W. Mumford at the Union
Stock Yards in Chicago. Published in 1902, it formed the basis for the official stand-
ards and grades still being used with some modifications in all major markets. Dur-
ing the next six years, parallel studies were made of the market classes and grades
of swine by William Dietrich, of horses and mules by R.C. Obrecht, of sheep by W.C.
Coffey, and of meat by L.D. Hall. Eventually, government grades were applied to car-
casses and to retail cuts of meat. To help the consumer understand and apply this
information when making local purchases, Sleeter Bull and associates wrote a series
of Extension circulars entitled "Beef for the Table," "Pork for the Table," "Veal for
the Table," and "Lamb and Mutton for the Table," published from 1944 to 1949.
During the ten years from 1910 to 1919, the price of prime steam lard per 100
pounds at Chicago averaged 40 percent above the price of live hogs. Heavy hogs were
prized because they literally carried the most bushels of corn to market to be con-
verted into lard. Thirty years later live hogs and lard were about equal in price,
and still later, in 1953, the price of prime steam lard was 42 percent below the price
of live hogs. Simple feeding programs were no longer suitable, and swine growers be-
gan to profit from the long series of studies by Illinois animal scientists dealing
with the protein requirements of swine--studies which led eventually to the develop-
ment of simplified corn-soybean rations for pigs of all ages.
Beef production has traditionally been a fragmented operation. A rancher raised
calves and sold them to feeders in the Corn Belt who finished them out in feedlots.
There were many such feedlots on Illinois farms, each with the capacity to handle one
or two carloads of cattle. When ready for market, these cattle were sold to a slaugh-
ter house, after which the carcasses were sent to a wholesaler and on to a butcher
shop or grocery store. The current trend, however, is toward integration, best ex-
emplified by some of the large feedlots in the high plains country of Colorado, Okla-
homa, New Mexico, and Texas, in which 500,000 or more head of cattle can be fed at
one time. At least one large operator in Colorado has a packing plant as a part of
his business.
149
MEAT-TYPE HOG PROGRAM
In the early 1950' s it became apparent that a significant change was taking place in
the type of market hog wanted in most markets. Discriminating purchasers were look-
ing for more lean and less fat in retail cuts, and this called for major changes in
selection and breeding on the part of swine growers. The challenge to Illinois live-
stock specialists was to show pork producers what changes were needed and how they
might best be accomplished. Three approaches were successfully used in the meat-type
hog program.
Meat-Type Hog Demonstrations
Producers in every county in Illinois had an opportunity to participate in de-
monstrations, sixty of which were held on either a county or an area basis over a
period of three years. A typical demonstration was conducted as follows:
Thirteen hogs were selected at a local market. Three of these--a meaty one, an
average one, and an overfat one--were used as demonstration hogs. Extension special-
ists estimated the carcass length, backfat, and percent of lean of four cuts for each
of these hogs, and pointed out to producers in attendance the traits that can be seen
in a live hog and that can be used to make these estimates. Producers were then asked
to make the same sort of estimates on the remaining ten hogs.
After the hogs were slaughtered and carcass data secured, a second meeting was
held at which the 13 carcasses were displayed with one side uncut and the other side
divided into wholesale cuts. This gave producers an opportunity to observe the large
differences between hogs, and to compare their estimates with actual results. Exten-
sion specialists then discussed in detail how selection programs could be used to
develop a strain having the more meaty, desirable characteristics.
Boar-Testing Stations and Certification
The first central boar-testing station in the United States started operation
at Forrest, Illinois, in the mid 1950's This captured the imagination of Illinois
producers, and several other local stations were soon opened, until at one time there
were eight operating in the state. These served as valuable local demonstrations,
but most were too small for efficient operation with a limited number of breeders
participating, and all but two have since closed down. By 1974 one large station was
still operating at Western Illinois University at Macomb and a smaller, privately
owned one was operating at Mascoutah in St. Clair County. Nearly all states with a
swine population of any consequence have followed the Illinois example and have boar-
testing stations in operation. Extension specialists usually serve in an advisory
capacity and meet occasionally with the board of directors of each station.
Concurrent with the development of the boar-testing stations was the meat-hog
certification program sponsored by the purebred swine record associations. The pur-
pose of this program is to identify within each breed of swine the strains that
are superior in carcass meatiness and growth rate. Here again, the Extension spe-
cialists serve in an advisory capacity. More certified litters and more certified
meat sires have been identified in Illinois than in any other state.
150
Pork Premiere
A third step called Pork Premiere, went beyond the carcass contest and gave equal
emphasis to growth rate and carcass meatiness. Pigs entered in this program are tat-
tooed for identification when they are quite young, usually before they weigh 20
pounds. At slaughter, an index which includes carcass meatiness traits and growth
rate is calculated. Such contests are conducted at the county level, at the State
Fair in both the junior and open swine shows, and at the Illinois Spring Barrow
Show. At the Barrow Show in the spring of 1973 more than 1,000 pigs were nominated.
This kind of contest and demonstration is of particular interest to commercial pro-
ducers because it attempts to measure total performance. Several other states have
copied this phase of the Illinois program.
151
MUCIA
The Midwest Universities Consortium for International Activities (MUCIA) was incor-
porated January 30, 1964, by the University of Illinois, Indiana University, Michi-
gan State University, and the University of Wisconsin to assist the four institu-
tions in rendering more effective technical assistance abroad, and to gain from their
overseas activities the maximum of academic benefit on their respective campuses.
To make possible the attainment of these objectives, the Ford Foundation made
a five-year grant to the Consortium. The University of Minnesota joined MUCIA in
July, 1969. Whenever possible, the Consortium contributes to these objectives,
abroad and at home, by promoting cooperative activities of the five universities.
There are four categories of support :
1. Manpower Development. To help meet the need for faculty members capable
of contributing to the international aspect of university teaching, research, and
service, the Consortium supports manpower development by guaranteeing availability
of faculty, by integrating faculty overseas experience into teaching and research,
and by compiling manpower rosters by means of faculty questionnaires.
2. Training Programs. These include graduate training and faculty orientation.
3. Research and Publication. This includes faculty research, evaluation of
overseas operations, exploratory studies, library materials, and publication.
4. Cooperative Activities. Three such projects were originated during the
first two years :
1. Assisting the Government of Thailand in establishing a National Institute
for Development Administration. Administered for the Consortium by Indiana University
and supported by a grant from the Ford Foundation.
2. Providing assistance to the Universidad Agraria of Peru in strengthening
its Faculty of Sciences. Also financed by the Ford Foundation and administered for
the Consortium by the University of Wisconsin.
3. A cooperative effort by the Consortium and the Brazilian Ministry of Educa-
tion for an extensive study of the organizational structure and future needs of high-
er education in Brazil. Staffed jointly by Brazilian and Consortium representatives
The Consortium has also jointly supported, with the American International As-
sociation for Economic and Social Development and the National Research Council of
Brazil, an extensive exploratory study of the planalto region of Brazil to determine
the feasibility of a broad but coordinated development program for this area.
152
Two projects in which the University of Illinois College of Agriculture was
involved were:
An Agricultural Higher Education Project in Indonesia to provide assistance to
the Government of Indonesia in its efforts to build an improved system of institu-
tions for agricultural instruction and research at the collegiate level, and to
strengthen the U.S. universities in their capacity to render assistance to the trop-
ical areas of the world.
An Indonesian Konsorsium, supported by the Ministry of Education, has been
formed to serve as a counterpart to MUCIA. This Konsorsium provides a mechanism
for communication and joint planning, and a forum for exchange of ideas among its
members. There is a sense of urgency among Indonesian leaders for action in this
project, and the long-term outlook for Indonesian agriculture is good.
University of Illinois staff members directly involved in the early years
included :
H.S. Bryan, Veterinary Medicine, July to November, 1972
E.R. Leng, Crop Ecology, January to May, 1971
H.H. Hadley, Plant Genetics, November, 1972 to February, 1973
E.C.A. Runge, Soils, July to September, 1972
J.T. Scott, Economic Consultant in Methodology, January to May, 1971
C.S. Walters, Consultant on Wood Technology, September to December, 1971
USAID
In September, 1971, the University of Illinois entered into a contract with
AID to provide an individual to serve as Chief of the Agricultural Universities De-
velopment Division in the USAID Mission in New Delhi, India. That individual has
significant responsibilities for assisting the Government of India in the planning,
programming, and evaluation of the Agricultural Universities Development Program.
He also aids the Government of India in strengthening education, extension, and re-
search systems at the central government and state levels. R.R. Renne first served
in that capacity.
Strategies for Agricultural Development
This program was organized and funded in 1969 to provide a coordinated inter-
disciplinary approach to significant problems in agricultural development. It pro-
poses to draw on expert information in a number of disciplines and specialties, to
examine experience in agricultural development, and to outline strategies appropriate
to needs of developing areas. It has been assisted by an allocation of funds from
a Ford Foundation grant to the University of Illinois.
Four projects were active in 1973. One was a study of interrelationships among
wheat and pulse crops in India. Another was a study of strategies for rice production
in West Africa. Support was provided for a graduate student in economics to study
revenue and expenditure patterns in Sierra Leone, and to the Survey Research Labo-
ratory for completing an exploratory study on consumer acceptance of new foods in
foreign countries.
Typical strategies to be considered for rice production include such things as:
1. Mechanization for rice production.
153
2. State ownership and operation of farms as a means of accomplishing mecha-
nization.
3. State-owned equipment to be rented to farmers.
4. Adaptability of fertilizer-responsive varieties to various production con-
ditions.
5. Substituting domestically produced foods for imported foods.
6. The possibility of using innovation insurance to encourage small farmers
to participate in the (for them) risky modernization process.
MUCIA-AID-Indonesia Higher Agricultural Education Project
This project is administered for MUCIA by the University of Wisconsin, but sev-
eral Illinois staff members have been involved. The general purpose of the contract
is to provide assistance to the Government of Indonesia in its efforts to build an
improved system for agricultural instruction and research at the collegiate level,
and to strengthen the U.S. universities in their capacity to render technical assist-
ance in the tropical area of the world.
Specifically, the project was planned to provide technical assistance to the
agricultural faculties of the Institut Pertanian Bogar (IPB) and of Gad j ah Mada Uni-
versity (GMU) in Jogjakarta, which in turn will assist with the development of af-
filiated agricultural faculties of other universities in the several provinces of
Indonesia. Requests from Indonesia have been for short-term consultants for periods
of three or four months to assess the problems and recommend procedures. The Indo-
nesian administrators may recognize that a problem exists, but want help in deciding
how best to solve it.
Basic problems underlying any approach to improved agricultural education and
research are high concentrations of people, low soil fertility, small holdings of
one hectare or less per farm family, and the fact that although 80 percent of the
population is agricultural, about 80 percent of the students in colleges of agri-
culture are from the cities.
Illinois staff members who had short-term assignments include M.S. Bryan, Vet-
erinary Medicine; E.R. Leng, Crop Ecology; H.H. Hadley, Plant Genetics; E.C.A. Runge,
Soils; J.T. Scott, Agricultural Economics; and C.S. Walters, Wood Technology.
World-Wide Soybean Project
The Program for International Research, Improvement, and Development of Soy-
beans (PIRIDS) was organized in 1969 to provide an agency which could give world-
wide attention to problems relating to improvement, development, and extended culture
of soybeans. It incorporates the Coordinated Research Project (CRP) in India. Agron-
omic field trials have also been conducted in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador,
Indonesia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sierra Leone, Thailand, and Vietnam. Expressions of
interest have been received from several other countries.
Emphasis has been placed on varietal performance, cultural practices, and pest
control information applicable to tropical and subtropical areas. Since soybeans are
a minor or unknown crop in many countries, information on marketing, processing, and
utilization must also be provided. The use of soybeans as a high-protein, high-energy
154
source of human food is receiving special attention. With this in mind, a new Illinois/
AID contract was signed in 1971 to provide technical assistance on a multicountry
basis in processes for making soybeans usable in the human diet. Demonstration oper-
ations in selected countries to evaluate the feasibility of utilizing soybeans at
the village level, to test the acceptability of soybeans as food, and to disseminate
information and experiences are an important part of the program.
Persons involved on campus include E.R. Leng, Director, G.L. Godfrey, Agricul-
tural Economics, A.C. Minor, Agronomy, Feng-Jou Wang, Food Science, and several
graduate students. On the field staff were A.I. Nelson, Food Technology Adviser,
Pantnagar, India; Forster Davidson, Microbiology Adviser, Pantnagar; C.N. Hittle,
CRP Coordinator, Jabalpur, India; and S.W. Williams, Adviser in Agricultural Eco-
nomics, Jabalpur, India.
See also article on INTSOY.
155
NATURAL HISTORY SURVEY DISEASE RESEARCH
Research in the Section of Botany and Plant Pathology of the Illinois Natural
History Survey has included studies of diseases affecting trees, shrubs, vines,
and floricultural crops.
Research on wilt disease of elms in Hinsdale, Illinois, from 1939 through 1944
proved that the disease was caused by a bacterium that was named Erwinia nimipres-
suralis. When the older sapwood and heartwood are invaded by this organism, a
water-soaked condition develops that is termed wetwood. Gas resulting from fer-
mentation of the sap in the infected wood creates pressure that forces the ferment-
ed sap through wounds in the form of a visible slime flux. Other external symp-
toms include drooping, yellowing, wilting of foliage, dying of branches, and gen-
eral decline of entire trees. There is no known cure or preventive.
Two procedures were developed to aid in the control of Dutch elm disease.
Spread of the fungus through grafted roots betweed diseased and healthy trees has
been prevented by treating a linear strip of soil with Vapam. This is in addi-
tion to routine sanitation procedures that include spraying with an insecticide
to prevent insect transmission of the disease to healthy trees. Impregnating
diseased trees with potassium iodide will prevent colonization by bark beetles,
a technique that is especially useful in cities where it is not possible to remove
diseased elms promptly and in some forested areas where removal is impractical.
Study of a vascular disease of oaks known as oak wilt has uncovered new in-
formation about the nature of the disease and about methods of control. Micro-
scopic growth of mats and pads of the fungus, Ceratooystis fagaoearum3 and pro-
duction of perithecia (perfect stage of the fungus) in nature have shown that the
fungus pads on diseased trees are a growth form of the fungus. Other observations
include penetration of the fungus in oak roots and its transmission by squirrels,
insects, and mites. A toxic principle in oak heartwood that inhibits growth of
the fungus has also been studied. Root graft spread has been held at a very low
level by establishing poison barriers around infected trees or groups of trees
and, in some cases, by poisoning only the diseased trees.
Recent research has involved study of environmental stresses that affect sus-
ceptibility of wood ornamentals to certain disease organisms. Among the stresses
being studied are freezing, drought, defoliation, and transplanting "shock." At-
tempts are also being made to develop techniques for measuring these stress fac-
tors quantitatively.
A long-time study of pin oak chlorosis led to the development of effective
controls using ferric citrate, ferric ammonium citrate, and chelated iron for
this economically important problem. Programs have been developed in which cul-
tural practices and fungicidal chemicals can be combined to provide effective
control of such diseases as stem blight of Vinaa minor3 anthracnose of Alpine
currant, powdery mildew of lilac, sycamore anthracnose, and cedar rusts. Studies
on wound healing in trees and on fertilization of trees and shrubs have led to
improved recommendations to help in disease prevention.
156
Fungicide control studies have shown that the shoot blight stage of sycamore
anthracnose can usually be controlled by one spraying of an organic mercury fungi-
cide applied as the buds begin to swell in the spring, 4 to 7 days before first
leaf emergence. A mean daily temperature range of 50° to 55° F. is optimum for fun-
gus activity and disease development. Little or no shoot blight occurs when the
mean is above 60° F. during the two weeks after the buds begin to swell; but if a
prolonged cold spell occurs at this time, a second spraying 14 days after the
first may be necessary.
Of 56 known woody hosts of verticillium wilt, 22 were first reported by Illinois
workers, including such common trees as blue ash, Kentucky coffee tree, Chinese
elm, slippery elm, pin oak, and sour gum. A list of more than 30 trees not
known to be susceptible has also been compiled, including beech, fir, ginkgo, hack-
berry, serviceberry, sweet gum, and sycamore.
Procedures developed for carnation and geranium growers include a cultured
cutting program for control of Fusarium and bacterial wilts of carnations and bac-
terial stem rot of geraniums; sulfur fumigators to control rose mildew in commer-
cial greenhouses; and several corm treatments for control of Fusarium and Curvularia
rots of gladiolus. Insecticides applied in the row at planting time made it possi-
ble to control bulb mites that serve as vectors of the bacterial scab of gladiolus.
Environmental stresses such as drought, freezing, defoliation, and transplant-
ing shock have been found to have pronounced effects on disease susceptibility in
certain host-pathogen combinations, and procedures are being developed to measure
these stresses quantitatively.
157
NUCLEAR MAGNETIC RESONANCE--NMR
In 1960, scientists from Corn Products Company and the University of Illinois found
that spectra from wide-line Nuclear Magnetic Spectroscopes were associated with oil
content of bulk samples of whole kernel corn. Equally important, NMR analysis, as
it is called, proved to be nondestructive, rapid, and accurate.
Furthermore, with NMR the oil content of a single corn kernel could be determined
without affecting viability. This meant that high-oil kernels could be identified
and saved as needed until planting time, thereby simplifying and shortening the se-
lection process. It is comparable to the use of backfat measurements in swine to
identify superior individuals for breeding.
The principle of NMR had been enunciated in 1946 by Purcell of Harvard and Block
of Stanford, leading to their selection for the Nobel Prize in physics.
The hydrogen content of the liquid component of a corn sample is proportional
to the oil content of the sample, whether it be a handful or a single kernel. The
NMR process "counts" the hydrogen nuclei in the oil. The number of oil molecules is
then determined by dividing the total number of "counted" hydrogen nuclei by the av-
erage number of hydrogens per molecule of oil.
Actual operation is very simple. A well-dried sample is weighed, put in a test
tube, and placed in the machine. A switch is flipped, and two seconds later the oil
content of the sample is displayed on a panel. NMR analysis is thus facilitating the
process of developing new breeding populations of corn possessing high oil content
and inbreds combining high oil with high yield.
158
NUTRIENT LEVELS IN ILLINOIS SOILS AND CROPS
A major project begun by the Agronomy Department in 1967 and completed two years lat-
er, involved collection of plant samples of corn or soybeans growing on known soil
types in most counties of the state. Soil samples were also collected near where
the plant samples were taken. The purpose of the project was to learn the existing
status of soil fertility and plant composition, and to establish bench-mark standards
for future reference. The total involved 1,706 randomly selected fields in 74 coun-
ties sampled by county extension advisers.
Plant samples were collected at two stages of growth, early and midseason, and
analyzed for 13 elements--nitrogen (N) , phosphorus (P) , potassium (K) , calcium (Ca) ,
magnesium (Mg) , manganese (Mn) , iron (Fe) , zinc (Zn) , boron (B) , copper (Cu) , sodium
(Na) , aluminum (Al) , and silicon (Si) . Early growth stage was defined as 12 to 18
inches in height for corn and 5 to 10 inches for soybeans. Whole plants were col-
lected at this stage. The midseason stage was defined as the tasseling period for
corn and full height for soybeans. At this stage the leaf opposite an ear was se-
lected from corn plants, and the topmost fully developed leaves were collected from
soybean plants.
Soil samples were taken at three depth--0 to 6 inches, 12 to 18 inches, and 24
to 30 inches. Tests were made for pH, available phosphorus (Pi), acid-soluble phos-
phorus (P2) , and available potassium.
Soil tests showed that about one-third of the fields were in need of build-up,
one-third were about at suggested goals, and one-third were above goals believed to
be necessary. Some surprisingly high tests were found--for example, potassium above
2,000 pounds per acre when 300 pounds is considered high, and available phosphorus
above 300 when 70 is high for any soil. Future research will be needed to determine
whether there are magnesium or zinc problems on such soils. A few fields with low
to marginal levels of zinc, boron, copper, or magnesium were identifed, but no gener-
al problems on either a state or area basis were found. Followup field trials failed
to show responses in yield.
In a related program, specific crop yields and soil productivity indexes have
been calculated for 389 soil types in the state. This information is widely used by
persons involved in agriculture, ranging from farm operators and managers to public
officials. The productivity indexes are especially useful in evaluating soil and
economic relationships as in land appraisal.
159
NUTRITION AND CLIMATIC STRESS
A research project carried out originally for the Armed Forces Institute was reported
in full in a publication entitled "Nutrition and Climatic Stress with Particular Ref-
erence to Man," published by Charles G Thomas, Springfield, Illinois, in 1951, by
H.H. Mitchell and Marjorie Edman (234 pages). A brief summary follows.
A cold environment definitely increases the caloric requirements of man in pro-
portion to its severity. Illinois experiments proved definitely that a high-carbohy-
drate diet, approximating closely what would be considered a typical American diet,
is superior to one that is top-heavy in its proportion of protein. Some evidence
was found that decreasing the intervals between meals or consumption of snacks be-
tween meals may be beneficial.
Direct experimentation on human subjects, supplemented by observation in the
field, showed:
1. Energy requirements are less in a hot climate than in a temperate climate.
2. Water requirements in a hot climate are definitely increased as much as four
or five times. During intense sweating, thirst is not an adequate guide to water
requirements .
3. The salt (NaCl) requirements in a hot climate may be greatly increased un-
der conditions of profuse sweating, to 5 to 7 times what they are under nonstress
conditions.
4. No evidence was found to suggest that modification of the diet in terms of
protein, carbohydrates, and fat improved heat tolerance.
The effects of altitude on animal metabolism are due predominantly to a dimin-
ished partial pressure of oxygen in the inspired and alveolar air. The anoxia thus
produced clearly depresses mental faculties, acuity of sensory impressions, the will
to work, and work capacity.
The ingestion of carbohydrates, as compared with protein foods, immediately be-
fore and during flight to altitude increases mental efficiency, neuromuscular coordi-
nation, the capacity for muscular work, the field of peripheral vision, and the acuity
of vision in dim light. It also decreases the severity of decompression sickness.
Candy snacks, preferably sugar candy, might well be provided for prolonged flights.
160
PIPELINE MILKING
Pipelines in connection with machine milking in stanchion barns were used in a number
of installations during the 1940' s, but the labor saved by their use was offset by
the time required to dismantle, clean, sanitize, and reassemble the pipe after each
use, and the system never became popular. Researchers M.H. Alexander, W.O. Nelson,
and E.E. Ormiston in 1950 undertook to find suitable methods of cleaning the pipe in
position without dismantling. In the first test, two lines of pipe each 200 feet long
were installed in the college dairy barn. One of stainless steel was used from March
11 to September 2 without dismantling. The other, of Pyrex glass, was used from Sep-
tember 5 to September 25. Bacteriological analyses covered the entire period of sev-
en months, and indicated clearly that milk of acceptable quality could be produced by
such a system. In a later test comparing stainless steel and flexible plastic pipe-
lines, milk of satisfactory bacteriological quality was produced throughout the ex-
perimental period of six weeks in two different barns, with each type of pipe.
Proper cleaning procedures are important, and the routine recommended as a re-
sult of these tests can be summarized as follows:
1. Immediately after milking, thoroughly rinse the pipeline for 5 minutes with
clean water at approximately 90° to 100° F. This will clear the pipe of
milk.
2. Wash with a hot (140° to 145°) synthetic alkaline detergent solution for
about 20 minutes. (A synthetic acid detergent should be used after each
fourth milking.) Detergents should be adapted to the hardness of the water.
3. Sanitize the pipe by rinsing for 5 minutes with a chlorine solution (200
parts per million) at 90° to 100° F.
4. Immediately before each milking, rinse with a similar chlorine solution.
The 200-foot pipeline was the first such installation in a college dairy barn
anywhere in the country; and the demonstration that the three different kinds of pipe
could be cleaned in position, without dismantling, showed the way to what later be-
came common practice in U.S. dairying.
161
PLANT NUTRIENTS USED ON CROPS AND PASTURES IN ILLINOIS
The total acreage of harvested crops in Illinois including unimproved, open, and per-
manent pasture acres declined from 25.2 million acres in 1954 to 23.5 million in 1964.
This decrease of 1 . 7 million acres harvested was accompanied by an increase of 3.2
million acres fertilized (from 7.9 million in 1954 to 11.1 million acres in 1964),
increasing the percentage of harvested acres fertilized from 31 percent to 47 percent,
For individual crops the percentage of harvested acres fertilized in 1964 was: corn
86, soybeans 12, wheat 85, oats (estimated) 11, hay and cropland pasture 8, fruits
and vegetables (estimated) 96, and other crops 57.
Primary crops such as corn, soybeans, and wheat are increasing both in acres
harvested and in the percentage of harvested acres fertilized, while less important
crops are declining in harvested acres and to some extent in the percentage of har-
vested acres fertilized.
It is estimated that in 1964 67 pounds of nitrogen, 21.6 pounds of phosphorus,
and 33.3 pounds of potash were applied per fertilized acre of all cropland and pas-
ture in Illinois. The greatest increase occurred in the use of nitrogen, over three
times as much per fertilized acre in 1964 as in 1954, mostly on corn.
This study was made in 1967, by W.A. Elder and Roy Van Arsdall of the Depart-
ment of Agricultural Economics, as part of a national project of the Economic Research
Service and the Statistical Reporting Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, in
cooperation with the state agricultural experiment stations.
162
RED STELE ROT OF STRAWBERRIES
One of the serious hazards in growing high-quality strawberries in Illinois in the
1930's was root rot, and in particular a form known as red stele, sometimes called
brown stele. It was first seen in Edgar County and led to a reduction of commercial
plantings from about 1,000 acres to less than 500 acres, H.W. Anderson of the Depart-
ment of Horticulture found that the cause of red stele rot is one of the downy mil-
dews, Phy tophthera , a type of fungus causing "blights" of many plants.
A.S. Colby and H.W. Anderson undertook an intensive series of studies in an ef-
fort to locate varieties that were both resistant to the fungus and suitable for com-
mercial production. In the meantime, the only practical method of avoiding serious
infection was to make new plantings of disease-free plants in fields where no straw-
berries had previously been grown.
By 1935 three varieties showing resistance had been found--Aberdeen, Mastodon,
and Red Heart--but only Aberdeen was suited to conditions in Edgar County. Unfortu-
nately, Aberdeen was found to be quite susceptible to leaf spot, which often made it
necessary to spray for control of this disease. By 1938 this disease had been re-
ported widely distributed in eastern areas of the country where many of the straw-
berry plants used by Illinois growers were being raised.
The problem was studied by investigators at other stations, including New Jer-
sey, where a new Aberdeen cross named Pathfinder was developed. In 1941, Dr. Colby
made a cross between Redstar and Pathfinder which showed considerable resistance, and
from this cross he eventually developed a highly resistant variety, Vermilion, the
first variety to be named as a result of the long breeding program. In April, 1950,
it was released to a few growers in Edgar County and became rather widely used.
Parallel work continued at several other stations, and it was not long until
growers had a number of varieties to choose from, all resistant to red stele rot as
well as to leaf spot.
163
RESIDENT INSTRUCTION
A book published in 1957, "Why Teach?," gave the views of more than 100 men and wo-
men in many different fields on teaching, the influence of teachers on their own
lives, or the satisfactions to be derived from teaching as a profession. Here are
a few thoughts from the book:
Paul G. Hoffman, Chairman of the Board of Studebaker-Packard Corporation: "The
founders of our Republic, particularly Thomas Jefferson, were the first to sense the
close relationship between education and good citzenship. They felt in their bones
that their audacious experiment in government could succeed only if their constituents
were reasonably literate. That is why school districts were being organized and
schools set up even before our first Congress met. With the passing of the years
and the growing complexity of government, the need for a better and better educated
citizenry has become increasingly clear. It is not an overstatement to say that
our very survival as a nation depends on whether our children are well taught. The
greatest single threat to our way of life is ignorance."
Frank G. Dickey, President, University of Kentucky: "1 know of no other group
in our society that can equal teachers in their loyalty to the finer things of life,
in their interest in preserving the worthwhile things from the past, and in the dis-
covery of the new ideas that will make our future even greater. Finally, teachers
are doing more than any other group to help our youth understand and appreciate the
liberty and the freedom which is ours. Teaching is indeed a proud profession."
William Harrison Fetridge, Executive Vice-President of Popular Mechanics Maga-
zine: "What greater challenge can a person have than the responsibility imposed by
the profession of the teacher? What greater stimulation can a person possess than
the knowledge that he has helped shape other people's lives and destinies? And
what greater satisfaction can there be than knowing one has provided the tools and
the standards by which others live?"
David Dodds Henry, President, University of Illinois: "To live with books and
ideas, to associate with young and old who prize the intellectual and spiritual, to
be part of a mission dedicated to improvement in the lot of men and helping people
to live fuller, richer lives, to participate in the discovery of new ideas--in short,
to be a teacher--is to accept a way of life honored and rewarding in human values,
outcomes that give worthy purpose and satisfying meaning to daily endeavor."
Joel H. Hildebrand, Professor of Chemistry, University of California: "In the
course of my half century of teaching I have had before me a total of not less than
40,000 students, from freshman to post-doctoral Ph.D.'s, and now, wherever I go, I
am greeted by men and women who indicate, in one way or another, that they think
I contributed something to their minds and character. I have come to realize, with
the passage of years, that the fruits of one's labors are likely to live longer in
the lives of his students than in his scientific discoveries. The students become
part of the stream of life; his publications gradually become obsolete."
Alice K. Leopold, Women's Bureau Director, and Assistant to the Secretary of
Labor for Women's Affairs: "Everyone who works at a job he likes and does well
contributes to the well-being of all of us. But some jobs are indispensable to our
164
very survival. Teaching, like nursing, is one of those. Unless our children learn
how to read, write, and calculate, they cannot live without constant help from others.
Unless they learn how to develop their talents and overcome their handicaps, they
cannot work effectively and harmoniously with others for the common good. Unless
they learn from the preceding generation the heritage of the past, they cannot add
to our progress."
Frances Parkinson Keyes, novelist, travel writer, and public speaker: "One
of my most inspiring experiences was visiting the University of Salamanca in Spain,
where the classroom has been in use for more than five hundred years, and the same
rough benches still serve the students of today that were used by men who studied
under the justly famous Fray Luis deLeon, whose spirit continues to permeate the
place. Without any of the equipment which the average small -town public school in
our country would consider essential, this university has not only survived, but
flourished, because it has been illumined by the knowledge and enthusiasm of its
teachers. "
Background for Early Agricultural Education
Early American agriculture was largely subsistence farming. Each family had a
few cows to provide milk for the family and cream for churning butter, with any
surplus skim milk going to feed the pigs; enough hogs to provide a winter's supply
of ham, bacon, spare ribs, and salt pork; a flock of chickens to furnish the family's
need for eggs and poultry meat including eggs to trade at the country store for
such staples as flour and sugar and any other commodities not easily produced on
the farm; and two to four horses to furnish farm power and any necessary transpor-
tation. Crops consisted chiefly of hay for the horses and cattle, corn to feed the
pigs and chickens, oats for horse feed, and perhaps some wheat, together with a
sizable vegetable garden, some grapevines, berry bushes, and a strawberry patch,
plus apple, pear, plum and possibly peach trees. There was usually a farm shop,
often containing a forge and anvil, in which repairs to simple farm equipment could
be made.
Farmers tended to be skeptical of the value of "book learning" as applied to
agriculture; and it was only after farm enterprises grew larger, and operators were
faced with such problems as inroads of insect pests, plant and animal diseases, and
decreasing soil fertility, to which they needed answers, that they began to think
about sending their sons to an agricultural college. And for a long time the em-
phasis was on "practical" agriculture, with little or no thought given to such things
as price cycles; graded eggs, wheat, or livestock; plant and animal breeding; or
soil erosion.
Development of Teaching in College of Agriculture
In the university itself, the "science" of agriculture was slow to gain recog-
nition. Until Dean Davenport came to Illinois in 1895, insisting as a condition of
employment that his title be Professor of Animal Husbandry, the senior title had
been Professor of Agriculture. No departments were recognized until 1899, and as
late as 1916 there were only five--Agronomy, Animal Husbandry, Dairy Husbandry,
Horticulture, and Household Science. Farm Organization and Management was esta-
blished in 1917, and Farm Mechanics in 1921.
Most departments in the college of agriculture can be considered "spin-offs"
from other long-established departments in Liberal Arts and Science. Thus Physics
includes Mechanics, and leads naturally to Farm Mechanics and then to Agricultural
Engineering. Geology leads to Soils , Soil Chemistry, Soil Fertility, Soil Management
165
and Soil Classification, all of which involve Soil Physics. Biology divides
naturally into Botany and Zoology. Botany must include Plant Classification, Plant
Breeding, Plant Physiology, and Plant Pathology, just as Zoology encompasses Ani-
mal Breeding, Animal Physiology, Anatomy, Animal Pathology, and the various phases
of Animal Management, including Animal Nutrition.
For the college administration, all of this leads directly to the question of
what curricula should be set up and what specific courses should be offered. Then
there are the more difficult questions as to which courses should be required of
all students and which should be elective; as well as what specialized curricula,
if any, should be offered for students who want to prepare for work in certain spe-
cial fields.
Curricula in Agriculture
For many years, teaching in the college was carried out under a single curriculum
commonly called the General Curriculum in Agriculture and required for the degree
of Bachelor of Science in Agriculture. In the catalog of 1899-1900, when depart-
ments were first recognized, the aims and scope of the curriculum were set out as
follows :
"The College of Agriculture offers students an education which fits them for the
business of farming, and at the same time furnishes them a means of culture. This
education is, therefore, partly technical and partly cultural. Its end is the train-
ing of students not only to be good farmers, but good citizens and successful men.
In other words, it seeks to provide an education suitable to the needs of rural
people in a democracy.
"The technical portion of the course offered in the College of Agriculture consti-
tutes about one-half of the whole work. In studying these technical subjects the
aim is not so much to teach rules of practice as to make plain the principles of
agricultural science. Of the remaining portion of the course, twenty hours are
prescribed in the sciences. Since the technical subjects are also of a scientific
nature, the course as a whole is essentially scientific, rather than literary; yet
the College is mindful of the educational importance of history, literature, lan-
guage, and the political sciences, and reasonable attention is, therefore, given
to these subjects."
The requirements for graduation with the degree of Bachelor of Science in Agri-
culture were listed as the completion of:
1. Studies in the prescribed list:
2.
Agronomy
15 hours
Horticulture
8 hours
Animal Husbandry
10
Military
5
Botany or Zoology
10
Physical Training
Chemistry
10
Men
7H
Dairy Husbandry
2
Women
3
Economics
2
Rhetoric
6
English
5
Veterinary Science
2h
20 semester hours form
elective list
A:
Agronomy
Animal Husbandry
Da iry Husbandry
Horticulture
Veterinary Science
2% to 45^ hours
2h to 2712 hours
2\ to 21\ hours
2 to 72 hours
5 to 25 hours
166
3. Subjects aggregating 29 hours of free electives anywhere in the university not
in the prescribed list or List A.
4. An acceptable thesis upon an approved course of investigation, 5 to 10 hours
allowed according to the nature of the subject
Majors were not recognized or recorded as such, but beginning in 1905-06 there
was included in the catalog a list of "Suggested Courses for Students Specializing
in Dairy Husbandry." In 1906-07 a similar list was added for student specializing
in Horticulture, and in 1907-08 a list for students specializing in Animal Husbandry.
Other Curricula
For several years, the only additional curriculum was the one in Household Science
leading to the degree of B.S. in Household Science.
In 1907-08 a curriculum in Landscape Gardening (later Landscape Architecture)
was added. The next to appear was Floriculture in 1909-10; and in 1910-11 there
was added a General Four-Year Course for Teachers of Agriculture leading to the B.S.
degree in Agriculture.
A curriculum in Farm Organization and Management was added in 1915-16; and one
in Interior Decoration was added in Home Economics in 1917-18. In 1918-19 a new
curriculum in Teacher Training was introduced for students who wanted to qualify as
teachers of vocational agriculture under the Smith-Hughes Act.
Beginning in 1922-23, a curriculum in Nutrition and Dietetics was offered in
Home Economics. In the same year a statement regarding Teacher Training read as
follows: "Students applying for the degree of Bachelor of Science in Agricultural
Education must take the first two years in the College of Agriculture as required
for a B.S. in Agriculture, and the last two years in the College of Education."
Curriculum Changes
The first major changes in the curriculum in General Agriculture came in 1923-24,
based on recommendations made by the college Committee on Courses and Curricula,
which had studied the problem for more than a year under the chairmanship of Professor
H.B. Dorner. Prescribed agricultural courses were increased from 23 hours to 33, with
agriculture prescribed as electives reduced from 36 hours to 23. Total nonagriculture
required was increased from 57 hours to 63, with free electives reduced from 14 hours
to 11.
Group A electives (minimum 23 hours) included all courses offered by the Col-
lege of Agriculture other than those prescribed.
Group B (minimum 5 hours) included Physics, 3 hours; Botany 7a, 5 hours, Botany
27a, 5 hours; Mathematics 3 or 2, 5 or 3 hours; and Zoology 1, 5 hours.
Group C (minimum 6 hours) included English 20, 4 hours, Public Speaking 1 and
2, 4 hours; Rhetoric 10, 2 hours; American History 3b, 3 hours; Sociology 1 or 7,
3 or 2 hours; Psychology 1, 4 hours; Philosophy 1 or 2 , 3 hours; Education 10, 3
hours; and Education 25, 3 hours.
In 1927-28 the hours of required agriculture in the General Curriculum were
reduced from 56 to 49, Groups B and C (nonagriculture electives) were considerably
enlarged, and the number of free electives increased to 17 hours.
In 1931 the Department of Landscape Architecture was transferred from Agricul-
ture to the College of Fine and Applied Arts and several changes were instituted
167
in the curriculum leading to the degree of B.S. in Agriculture,
ment read as follows:
The catalog state-
"All students except those in the special curricula in home economics and floricul-
ture are required to take the same work during the freshman year and part of the
sophomore, junior, and senior years. This work gives the student a conception of
farm practices and an insight into the technical branches of agriculture, such as
animal and dairy husbandry, horticulture, farm crops, farm mechanics, and buildings,
and leaves a large part of the junior and senior years open for elective studies."
The list and hours of prescribed subjects included:
3
Accountancy la
Agr. Extension
Agronomy 25, 28
Animal Husbandry 1, 21
Bacteriology 52
Botany 5
Chemistry 1 (or 2), 5,
Dairy Husbandry 24a or
Economics 1 or 2
Entomology 1
32
24b
Farm Mechanics 1
% Farm Management 1
8 Geology 44
5 Horticulture la, lb
3 Hygiene 5
3 Landscape Architecture 62
13 or 11 Military Drill and Theory
3 Physical Education
5 or 3 Rhetoric 1, 2
3
Zoology 15
Total prescribed subjects 74% to 78% hours
Agriculture prescribed
Agriculture from Group A
Total agriculture required
Nonagriculture prescribed
to be added from Group B
to be added from Group C
Total nonagriculture required
Free electives
26% hours
20%
47
hours
48 to 52
8
6
62
to 66
hours
17
to 21
hours
Total hours 130
Beginning in 1932-33, the 4 hours of Military Drill and Theory and the 2 hours
in Physical Education were no longer included in the total, even though a university
requirement, and the free electives were reduced by 4 hours to make a total of 120
semester hours, though actually 126 hours were required for graduation.
Since 1933-34 a curriculum in Agricultural Engineering leading to the Degree
of B.S. in Agricultural Engineering has been administered by the College of Engineer-
ing with the cooperation of the Department of Agricultural Engineering.
A two-year pre-forestry curriculum was introduced in 1938-39 when the Depart-
ment of Forestry was established. It was designed to prepare young men to enter
a school of professional forestry with two years of advanced standing. It was con-
tinued until 1958, when the four-year programs in Forest Production and Wood Tech-
nology were approved.
The curriculum in Dairy Technology leading to the degree of B.S. in Dairy Tech-
nology was introduced in 1939-40.
First listing of the curriculum in Vocational Agriculture, leading to the degree
of B.S. in Vocational Agriculture, was in 1941-42
several Special Programs of Study in Agriculture:
Pre-Theological Program
Pre-Veterinary Program
In that year there were also listed
168
Five-Year Program in Agriculture and Engineering, in which a student could earn
degrees in both Agriculture and Agricultural Engineering.
Six- Year Program in Agriculture and Law, leading to the degrees of B.S. in
Agriculture and Bachelor of Laws at the end of six years.
A substantial change in the Curriculum in General Agriculture was made in 1940-
41, when the total required hours for graduation went back to 130 semester hours.
The new breakdown became:
Agriculture prescribed 28 hours
Nonagriculture prescribed 46 to 50 hours
Agricultural electives (Group 1) 21 hours
Nonagriculture electives (Group 2) 8 hours
Free electives 23 to 27 hours
Total required 130
Group 1--A11 courses offered by the College of Agriculture other than those pre-
scribed (minimum 21 hours).
Group 2--Minimum of 8 hours, in addition to prescribed courses, to be selected from
English 12, 13, 20a, or 20b (2 or 4 hours); French la and lb (8 hours);
Geography 1, 2, 14 (3 or 5 hours); German 1 and 2 (8 hours); History la,
lb, 32 or 3b (3 or 4 hours); Landscape Architecture 62 (2 hours); Philoso-
phy 1 or 2 (3 hours); Political Science la, lb or 16 (2 or 3 hours); Psy-
chology 1 (4 hours); Rhetoric 10 (2 hours); Sociology 1 (3 hours); Speech
1 (3 hours).
The curriculum in Home Economics Education was added in 1944-45, and curricula
in both Food Science and Restaurant Management were introduced in 1947.
In 1948, a new curriculum in Agricultural Science was developed to meet the spe-
cial needs of students who planned either to enter professional fields or to do gradu-
ate work for an advanced degree. The only specific requirements were those few which
were universitywide, such as two courses in Rhetoric and the specified Physical Edu-
cation, This permitted the student and his adviser to plan a succession of courses to
meet Specific needs. General guidelines in the form of minima for biological , physical,
and social sciences were set, depending upon the general area of each student's in-
terest, and there was a required minimum of 30 semester hours of technical agriculture.
In order to continue in this curriculum a student required a grade average at least
midway between "B" and "C . "
In 1957, the curriculum long known as General Agriculture was modified by recog-
nizing, in addition to the core in general agriculture, six majors - Agricultural
Economics, Agricultural Mechanization, Agronomy, Animal Science, Dairy Science, and
Horticulture. These new majors permitted greater differentiation in course require-
ments according to specialized areas of agricultural interest. Even so, many students
chose to enroll in the core curriculum and shift to a field of major interest in the
sophomore year.
In 1959, as a result of increased stress on agribusiness, a new curriculum in
Agricultural Industries was established. This included several courses offered by
the College of Commerce and Business Administration.
In 1961, a curriculum in Agricultural Communications was inaugurated; and in 1963
the pre-veterinary curriculum was re-established. Expansion of the junior college sys-
tem in Illinois during the next few years made pre-veterinary work available in many
places in the state, and in 1971 the pre-veterinary programs in both Agriculture and
Liberal Arts and Sciences were cancelled.
169
Courses Taught by Correspondence
During a period of four years, from 1936 to 1939, four different undergraduate
courses in agriculture were offered by correspondence. These were designated:
Agricultural Economics xl. Introductory Agricultural Economics
Agronomy x25 . Farm Crops
Dairy Husbandry x24a. Elementary Dairy Production
Horticulture xl. Introductory Horticulture
Correspondence courses throughout the university are equivalent to those offered
to undergraduate students in residence. Credit earned by correspondence courses in
which the student receives grades of "C" or higher can be applied, up to certain
specified limits, toward meeting the requirements for graduation.
Although the university continues to offer a wide selection of courses by cor-
respondence, there was apparently not enough demand for such courses in agriculture
to warrant their continuance. Only Agronomy x25 was offered in 1940, and no courses
have been offered since.
Teacher Evaluation
Perhaps only because it is so difficult or because it does not lend itself to
exact measurement of any kind, teacher evaluation is most often an account of a per-
sonal experience, written from a current or from a reflective point of view. Stu-
dents, especially at the high school and college levels, are exposed to a great
variety of teaching and teaching methods, some excellent, some good, and some not
so good. In spite of the fact that most of their experience with teaching will
have been on the receiving end, their close contact with teachers gives students a
certain expertise in evaluation that is not equally available to either a colleague
in the profession or to a mere observer who visits classes.
It is worth noting that students in the College of Agriculture, acting through
the student honorary organization Alpha Zeta, have chosen each year since 1959 an
"Outstanding Instructor" to be honored at the time of the All-Ag Banquet held an-
nually in the late spring.
Placement of Graduates
Most educational institutions feel some responsibility for helping graduates
obtain employment, though few would maintain that it is up to the college or uni-
versity to "place" every graduate in a suitable job. The College of Agriculture
has long helped in this regard by maintaining contacts with potential employers,
and by scheduling interviews on the campus between industry representatives and
graduating seniors toward the end of their final year. Many individual faculty
members are also involved in this process.
The Office of Resident Instruction has for many years conducted an annual sur-
vey of new graduates to determine the type of work they were following, together
with some indication of remuneration. In addition, a continuing survey was initi-
ated in the 1960's in which information was solicited from all five-year and ten-
year graduates.
Periodic surveys have also been conducted of all living graduates in order to
obtain suggestions and criticisms from them as individuals and as representatives
of business and industrial organizations, looking toward improvement of the college
offerings. It was learned early that two principal shortcomings of graduates were
in the area of oral and written communication and in a comprehensive understanding
of business. This resulted in the addition of business-related courses to several
curricula.
170
Student Enrollment
Enrollment in the College of Agriculture did not reach 1,000 until the fall of
1914, when there were 934 men and 144 women registered. The College now has more
than 10,000 graduates. Yearly enrollment and numbers of graduates in Agriculture
and Home Economics over a 50-year period were as follows:
Enrollment
Graduates
Year
Men
Women
Agriculture
Home
Economics
1921-22
871
165
164
19
1926-27
542
155
81
24
1931-32
502
195
85
24
1936-37
849
494
128
73
1941-42
910
551
189
116
1946-47
1
,077
358
173
68
1951-52
962
417
229
77
1956-57
1
,093
435
243
78
1961-62
1
,010
456
188
93
1966-67
1
,156
536
227
98
1971-72
1
,139
717
263
121
The College has drawn students from many foreign countries. The first such
student to graduate was Tunetara Yamaou from Japan in 1873, and the second was P.
Gannadius from Greece in 1874. There were no more until 1906. From 1922 to 1969
the numbers of graduates from various countries were:
China 22
Nigeria 18
Canada 15
South Africa 13
Germany 9
Philippines 8
4 each from India, Jamaica, Kenya, and Lithuania.
3 each from Colombia, England, Estonia, Greece, Israel, Japan, Poland and
Vietnam.
2 each from Argentina, Austria, Bolivia, Korea, Mexico, Peru, Sierra Leone,
Switzerland, Turkey, and Ukraine.
One each from Brazil, Bulgaria, Ethiopia, Czechoslovakia, Guatemala, Haiti,
Hungary, Iran, Italy, Java, Lebanon, Netherlands, Nicaraqua, Nyasaland,
Palestine, Roumania, Sweden, Taiwan, Tanzania, Uganda, Venezuela, and
Yugoslavia.
171
Graduate students have come from more than fifty different countries during the
50-year period 1922-1972. Countries represented by ten or more such students were:
Country
M.S.
Ph.D.
Country
M.S.
Ph.D.
Australia
6
16
Ireland
7
6
Belgium
9
6
Israel
7
9
Canada
20
33
Japan
10
9
China
25
25
Korea
7
3
Egypt
10
13
Nigeria
8
2
England
30
17
Philippines
16
16
Germany
7
6
South Africa
5
5
India
110
131
Taiwan
51
28
Iraq
6
4
Thailand
9
5
Other countries from which graduate students have come and received advanced
degrees include Afghanistan 1, Argentina 1, Austria 4, Brazil 6, Burma 1, Ceylon 1,
Chile 4, Colombia 4, Costa Rica 2, Cyprus 1, Denmark 5, Ethiopia 6, France 8, Ghana 2,
Greece 8, Guiana 1, Honduras 1, Hong Kong 1, Hungary 1, Indonesia 3, Iran 6, Italy 4
Jamaica 6, Jordan 4, Kenya 1, Latvia 1, Lebanon 5, Liberia 1, Lithuania 1, Mexico 5,
Netherlands 7, New Zealand 1, Norway 2, Pakistan 8, Panama 2, Paraguay 2, Peru 4,
Poland 2, Rhodesia 1, Saudi Arabia 1, Sierra Leone 2, Scotland 4, Spain 1, Sweden
1, Switzerland 1, Syria 1, Turkey 5, Uganda 2, Uruguay 1, Venezuela 3, Vietnam 4,
Wales 3, and Yugoslavia 2, for a grand total of 831, about evenly divided between
M.S. and Ph.D. candidates.
172
ROOT DEVELOPMENT IN CONTRASTING ILLINOIS SOILS
The physical and chemical properties of soils, extending several feet deep into the
profile, affect the rooting system of plants, which in turn influences the amount
and ease of nutrient and water absorption. One result of this is that by careful
examination of plant roots just as they grow in the soil, it is possible to see
why some soils produce so much better crop yields than do others. J.B. i'ehrenbacher,
B.W. Ray, and J.I). Alexander made this kind of study of corn, soybean, wheat, and
meadow roots in a number of Illinois soils. By inserting a monolith tray (4 x 12 x
72 inches) into the soil directly below the plant, they were able to remove both the
roots and the surrounding soil intact. The soil was then carefully washed away from
the roots so that they could be studied and photographed.
The study included soils ranging from moderately permeable, dark-colored loess
soils such as Muscatine, to very slowly permeable, light-colored, high-sodium soils
such as Huey. In Muscatine soil, which is one of the most productive in the state
and represents one of the best root environments, corn roots penetrated to nearly
72 inches. By contrast, the silty clay shale found at 28 inches in Derinda soil,
had no well-developed soil structure and was very slowly permeable, forming an ef-
fective barrier to root penetration. As another example, fertilized Cisne soil, be-
cause of its well-developed B horizon, permitted much better root penetration than
did the same soil unfertilized.
Soybeans do not generally root as deeply as corn, but in other respects the
trends in root penetration and distribution were much the same as for corn.
Wheat completes its growth before the normally hot, dry months of July and Au-
gust, so that deep root penetration is probably not as important as it is for corn
and soybeans. But proper fertilization increased root penetration to such an ex-
tent that in Muscatine soil, wheat roots went almost as deep as those of corn.
Alfalfa and red clover roots also penetrated deeply in Muscatine soil espe-
cially following adequate fertilization. These plants seldom survived on unferti-
lized Cisne and Huey soils, and even with fertilization they did not root very deep-
ly in these poorly drained soils. Timothy also has a shallow root system.
173
ROW SPACING FOR SOYBEANS
Soon after soybeans were introduced into Illinois, agronomists at the Experiment
Station showed that yields could be increased by planting in rows closer together
than the standard 40-inch spacing used for corn. Few growers adopted the narrow
spacing because it was much more convenient to continue use of the standard field
equipment .
In 1958 Illinois agronomists began a new study of the problem, comparing differ-
ent soybean varieties, and using different planting dates at several locations in
the state,. Beans planted in rows 24 inches apart consistently outyielded those grown
in rows 40 inches apart by about 15 percent, regardless of variety, date of planting,
or seeding rate.
Differences in row spacing did not noticeably affect quality or chemical com-
position of the beans. In dry seasons, however, height of plants will normally be
greater with wider row spacing. Early-germinating weeds need to be controlled just
as carefully when rows are close together as when they are farther apart, but late-
germinating weeds are likely to be less of a problem with narrow spacing because the
ground surface between rows will be more completely shaded.
Growers with small acreages might not find it worth while to make the retooling
necessary to grow more rows per acre, but for larger acreages it is an effective
way of increasing yield per acre.
174
RURAL ELECTRIFICATION IN ILLINOIS
In the spring of 1936 when the Rural Electrification Act was signed into law by Pres-
ident Roosevelt, approximately 16 percent of American farms had access to electrical
power, an increase from 10 percent in 1920. By contrast, almost all Netherlands
farms, 90 percent of those in Germany, and 50 percent of those in Sweden were elec-
trified. Thiry years later, after the expenditure of hundreds of millions of dol-
lars, the American figure had increased to over 98 percent. The REA program called
for making available to farmers who were prepared to work together in extending elec-
trical lines to their properties, 35-year loans at 2 percent interest. These systems
were to be jointly owned, controlled, and operated by the participating farmers.
The program did not come easily, and much of the stimulus for it was generated
in Illinois. In 1924 E.W. Lehmann and his staff in the Department of Farm Mechanics
(later to become Agricultural Engineering) , in cooperation with the local power com-
panies, set up a three-year study in rural Tolono. Ten farms were wired to deter-
mine whether enough electricity would be used to make such installations profitable
for both the farmers and the utility companies.
During the first year, electrical equipment was provided free of charge by manu-
facturers, with an option to purchase after the first year. In addition to lights,
each of the ten families was given the use of a refrigerator, a vacuum cleaner, and
a cream separator. Other equipment made available included utility motors, dish-
washers, food mixers, ranges, grain elevators, and buttermakers. Most of the house-
hold appliances were then considered luxury items even in urban areas.
One young farm woman, Mrs. Harry Riefsteck, became so enthusiastic that she
helped the project by giving talks at home bureau meetings and other gatherings,
telling farm women about her experience with electricity on the farm. Farm and
electrical magazines published her articles, and radio stations called on her for
interviews.
The Tolono experiment demonstrated beyond any doubt that there was a place for
electricity on the farm. On the ten test farms, only draft horses and tractors were
more important than electricity in supplying energy. The highest monthly total ave-
raged 278 kilowatt-hours and the lowest 42; at that time average monthly household
consumption in cities was 50 kilowatt-hours. Power companies became convinced that
there was a tremendous potential for electric power on farms. But even with the
rate concessions that they were willing to grant, the job could not be done without
huge capital investment in power lines.
Farmers in other parts of Illinois and in several other states became interested.
With help from the Illinois Agricultural Association and the National Federation of
Farm Bureaus, a bill was drafted and introduced in Congress, resulting in the Rural
Electrification Act of 1936.
175
SLOPES OF ILLINOIS WATERSHEDS AND SOIL ASSOCIATION AREAS
An important feature of physical land conditions is the average percent slope for
a given area. A sample survey by the Soil Conservation Service in cooperation with
the Department of Agronomy, for which mapping was completed in 1962, covered nearly
700,000 acres, or 2 percent of the land area of the state. The mapped areas con-
sisted of about 4,500 quarter-sections selected at random on the basis of three
quarter-sections for each legal township (36 square miles) .
Average slope was calculated by counties, by watersheds, and by soil associa-
tion areas. Average slopes of less than 3 percent (3 feet of vertical change in
100 feet of distance) were recorded for 25 counties:
Boone
DeKalb
Iroquois
Logan
Piatt
Champaign
Douglas
Kankakee
McLean
Saline
Christian
Edgar
Kendall
Macon
Wabash
Clinton
Ford
Lawrence
Mason
Wayne
Cook
Grundy
Livingston
Moultrie
Will
ercent or
high
er for 19
counties:
Adams
Carroll
Jackson
Monroe
Rock Island
Alexander
Fulton
Jersey
Peoria
Schuyler
Brown
Greene
Jo Daviess
Pike
Union
Calhoun
Hardin
Johnson
Pope
Calhoun County had the steepest slope with 17.63 percent, and Douglas the
lowest with 1.78 percent.
By watersheds, the steepest slope was in the Ohio River area with 10.11 per-
cent, and the lowest in the Iroquois River area with 1.75 percent.
Slope figures by soil association areas give a quite different picture from
the county or watershed analysis. In general, the dark-colored, prairie-derived
soil association areas have average slopes below 2.5 percent. Sore of the flattest
land in the state occurs in association F (Hoyleton-Cisne-Huey) , but the average slope
for this association is slightly higher than that for association B (Sidell-Catlin-
Flanagan- Drummer) because association F is dissected by more minor streams so that
numerous small areas of sloping timbered soil are included. Slope estimates by
county are therefore more useful if supplemented by information about the pertinent
soil association areas. Specific slope information is included in many of the lat-
est soil reports.
176
SOURCES OF SCOTCH PINE FOR CHRISTMAS TREE PLANTATIONS
Scotch pine, Pinus sylvestris, has often proved disappointing as a timber tree in
North America, but has become a favorite with Christmas tree growers because of the
ease with which it can be sheared to produce a desirable density and shape. Because
of the prospect that many of the millions of Scotch pine being planted annually would
never be harvested as Christmas trees but would be allowed to develop into low-grade
forests, the North Central Regional Tree Improvement Committee (NC-51) undertook a
study in which the performance of Scotch pines was related to their origin. Three
of the test plantings, involving 106 sources ranging from Scotland to Siberia and
from Spain to Turkey, were established in Illinois in 1961.
During the fifth year after planting, all trees were individually rated, and
twelve sources were selected as being intermediate in growth rate and needle length
between the short-needled, slowest-growing, far-northern sources and the fastest-
growing, long-needled Belgian and German sources. Fifth-year heights for the twelve
intermediate sources averaged from 3 to 5 feet. By contrast, trees from northern
Finland and central Siberia averaged slightly better than 1 foot, and those from
central European sources averaged about 6 feet in height.
Results of this study uphold the popular belief that Spanish trees are among
the best, and strongly suggest that the most suitable seed origins will be found
along the southern limits of the species range. Trees of Balkan and Georgian ori-
gin have dark green foliage, are somewhat more hardy in northern Illinois, and may
develop into better timber trees.
177
SOUTHERN CORN BLIGHT
Southern corn blight, which caused such severe losses in 1970, has in fact been
a major disease in tropical and subtropical corn-growing areas of the world for a
long time and is essentially worldwide in its distribution. In the United States
it was first described in Florida in 1925, but was of minor importance until 1969
for the simple reason that most inbred lines and commercial hybrids produced from
them were resistant to the common type of the fungus.
The disease is caused by a fungus known in the conidial stage as Helminthosporium
maydis. The fungus persists in crop refuse between corn-growing seasons, where it
produces spores (conidia) that are later airborne. When they land on corn leaves,
they germinate in the presence of moisture and penetrate the leaf, either directly
through the cuticle or through stomatal openings. Once inside the leaf, the thread-
like mycelium spreads through the cells, killing them. After the leaf tissue is
killed, if it is kept moist for 10 or more hours, the fungus produces thousands of
new conidia which are easily dislodged and blown through the air to initiate new
infections. When conditions are favorable, the entire life cycle can take place in
as few as 60 hours, so that the whole process becomes explosive.
What makes the problem especially significant is that there are two distinct
races of the fungus, named race 0 and race T as a result of work as the Illinois
Station. Race T is the more destructive and is pathogenic only for corn plants
that have the oms-T cytoplasm (cytoplasm for male sterility). Race T also produces
a highly specific pathotoxin in infected plants as well as in laboratory cultures.
When applied to roots from germinating seeds, the pathotoxin inhibits the growth
of susceptible types but not of resistant types, and plays an important part in
disease damage to susceptible corn plants.
Race T also has a higher reproductive rate than race 0 and can spread rapidly
in the field when conditions are favorable. Climate and temperature tend to limit
the spread of race 0, so that only rarely does it appear as far north as the Corn
Belt. Race T, on the other hand, does not seem to be so limited, and spread rapidly
northward after its appearance in Florida in the spring of 1970.
Prior to that time few people had paid much attention to plant cytoplasm, the
complex liquid substance that fills every living plant cell. But Illinois research-
ers Arthur L. Hooker and associates had already studied the problem and established
that susceptibility to race T of the southern corn blight fungus in the United States
was associated with a particular type of corn cytoplasm, called cytoplasm T. For-
tunately, they had found that seed with normal cytoplasm was resistant, and they
were ready to release other seed that was resistant to the new race of the fungus.
The new seed was quickly accepted by commercial seed companies, and by 1972 southern
corn blight was only an unpleasant memory for most Corn Belt farmers.
178
SOYBEAN CYST NEMATODE
Before 1954 the soybean cyst nematode, Heterodera glycines, commonly referred to as
SCN, was known only in Japan, Korea, and Manchuria. Despite strict quarantine regu-
lations, it appeared in North Carolina in that year and has spread to most of the
southern and midwestern states where soybeans are grown.
SCN was first found in Illinois in 1959 in a field in Pulaski County, and has
since spread slowly northward to beyond Benton in Franklin County. Soybean losses due
to SCN may range from light to over 90 percent, depending on infestation level and
growing conditions. The most striking damage usually occurs in light sandy soils,
but if conditions are right, severe injury is also possible on heavy soils.
Unfortunately, symptoms of SCN damage closely resemble those resulting from
other causes, thus making identification difficult. The only specific sign is the
presence of white to brown spherical females, the size of a pinhead, attached to
the soybean roots. Positive diagnosis must therefore be made by specialists at the
suspected location, because quarantine regulations preclude sending suspected samples
of soil or roots out of the area for examination.
Crop rotations that avoid growing soybeans on the same land in successive years
will help in control of this pest, but the most successful control will probably be
found in the use of the Custer variety and other resistant varieties as they are
developed.
179
THE SOYBEAN STORY IN ILLINOIS
When agronomists, plant breeders, soil bacteriologists, plant pathologists, other re-
searchers, extension fieldmen, farmers, seed companies, and processing plants all co-
operate in finding a place for a new commercial crop in the agricultural economy, sig-
nificant results are certain to follow. This is essentially what happened with soy-
beans in Illinois and neighboring states.
Many books have been written about the soybean, its obscure origin, its culture,
its food uses in the Orient, selection and development of new varieties, and its place
in farming and in industry. They cover romance, research, the change from reluctant
acceptance to resounding enthusiasm, replacement for oats in Corn Belt rotations, and
worldwide use as a protein supplement in livestock and poultry feeds. These books
make fascinating reading as they portray the contributions of men who devoted their
entire careers to this interesting and valuable legume.
The first written description of the soybean is said to have been made in China
about 5,000 years ago, but pictographs showing the plant have been dated many centu-
ries earlier. First mention in publications of the Illinois Station seems to have
been in Circular No. 5 by Director Eugene Davenport entitled "The Cow Pea and the Soja
Bean," published December, 1897. The first sentence reads, "The cow pea, which is
essentially a bean, and the soja bean, which is essentially a pea, are so similar in
nature and use as to be closely associated in the public mind and to make it expedient
to treat of them in close connection."
Six years later Circular 69, "The Cowpea and the Soy Bean in Illinois," concluded
with this statement: "There are varieties of both cowpeas and soy beans which are
well adapted to Illinois, and their success as a crop in this state is established."
But it was 1915 before as many as 2,000 acres of soybeans were grown in the state.
Today, Illinois produces about 17 percent of the world crop, more than mainland China,
which is the second country in world production. And for many years, more soybeans
were grown in Illinois than in all the other states combined.
The marked increase in popularity of the soybean as a commercial crop began about
1920. Within ten years the acreage grown in Illinois had expanded to 1 million, and
by 1960 to 5 million. About 7 million acres are now grown in the state. This growth
in production was in large measure a result of the research and extension activities
of W.L. Burlison, J.C. Hackleman, CM. Woodworth, and others on the staff of the De-
partment of Agronomy.
The soybean is a short-day plant, and will not bloom or mature until the day
length decreases to a point that is specific for each variety. For successful pro-
duction it is therefore essential to choose varieties that are adapted to the latitude
in which they are to be grown. Regular variety trials were begun early in Illinois,
and hundreds of varieties and strains have been tested. Many new varieties have been
originated, with emphasis on such characteristics as yield, oil content, disease re-
sistance, and ease of harvesting. The first state-originated variety released to Il-
linois farmers was Illini in 1927. Since 1936, this work has been carried on cooper-
atively with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Selection and crossing by plant
breeders in the USDA and cooperating states, using more than 10,000 samples collected
180
mainly from the Orient, have resulted in more than 100 named varieties, some 40 of
which are recommended for commercial use.
Originally grown as a hay and seed crop, soybeans have become a crop of industrial
importance surpassed only by corn and wheat. U.S. soybean oil and meal production in
1969 amounted to 3.9 million and 17.6 million tons, respectively. Of this amount,
1.4 million tons of oil and 4.0 million tons of meal were exported. Not until 1941
did the acres harvested for beans (5,881,000) exceed the acres grown for hay and other
purposes (5,510,000). After that, the acreage grown for hay in the United States de-
clined to a low of 463,000 in 1964, the last year of official estimates of soybean
hay production. This latter figure was close to the number of soybean acres planted
for beans forty years earlier, when the totalU.S. acreage for all purposes was 1 ,782,000.
The five leading states in soybean acreage in 1919 were North Carolina, Virginia,
Mississippi, Kentucky, and Alabama. By 1924, as a result of expansion in the Corn
Belt, the five leaders were Illinois, Indiana, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Virginia
with 54 percent of the total acreage. Illinois has held the lead ever since. The
total farm value of harvested soybeans in the United States has exceeded $2 billion
each year since 1964.
Several factors contributed to acceptance of the soybean and to its development
as an important crop for Illinois farmers. As tractors became available and gradual-
ly replaced horses as the main source of farm power, there was less demand for oats,
and farmers were looking for another crop to fit into the common rotation of corn,
oats, and clover. Soybeans seemed to be the answer, but only if a market could be
found .
Operators of screw-press oil mills were interested, but they needed an adequate
supply of beans to make the milling worth-while. This was solved when an Illinois
processor agreed to buy all the beans from 50,000 acres in order to assure enough
beans for successful operation of the mill.
There was a ready market for soybean oil, but in the early 1920' s the meal could
be sold only for fertilizer. Ground soybeans, when fed to fattening hogs, produced
soft pork that was unacceptable in the market, and farmers had reservations about
feeding expeller-process soybean meal which contained 4 to 5 percent oil. Carefully
controlled feeding experiments showed that the meal did not affect carcass quality,
but it was not until the mid-1930' s that significant amounts began to be used. Today,
about 98 percent of the soybean meal used in the United States goes into livestock
and poultry feeds, supplying about two-thirds of the total plant protein needs for
this purpose.
Harvesting soybeans was a problem in the early years, but in October, 1924, the
Illinois Department of Farm Mechanics (now Agricultural Engineering) demonstrated the
use of the combine for the purpose. The combine recovered a much larger percentage
of the beans than did the threshing machines used previously and helped materially to
establish the soybean as a profitable crop for Illinois farmers.
In the late 1940' s processors began to change from the screw-press (expeller)
method of removing oil to the more efficient hexane solvent process, and in less than
ten years the changeover was complete. Continuous extraction is well adapted to large
crushing operations. Standard soybean meal contains 44 percent protein. A more re-
cent development has been the manufacture of 50 percent protein meal made from dehulled
beans. This has proved very satisfactory in poultry rations. In either case, the
flakes are cooked under carefully controlled conditions of temperature and moisture
before grinding to make the meal for commercial use.
181
Illinois research has shown clearly that soybeans can feed efficiently on fer-
tility built up In the soil for preceding crops and that they do not need direct fer-
tilization where soil fertility is high. On the other hand, the crop will show a
large response to direct fertilization on soils that are low in phosphorus and potas-
sium. Most profitable yields are likely to be obtained by planting high-yielding va-
rieties on good soils that have been maintained in a high degree of fertility.
Although whole soybeans are an excellent source of protein, they did not find
favor as human food because of an objectionable "painty" or "beany" flavor that, un-
til recently, was thought to be an inherent quality of the original bean. It is now
known that the off- flavor develops when there is damage to the bean cotyledons in the
presence of even a very small amount of moisture. The specific cause is an enzyme
(lipoxidaze) which is almost instantaneous in action. Furthermore, once the off-flavor I
has developed, there is no practical way of masking or eliminating it.
Illinois researchers in the Department of Food Science found a simple and inex-
pensive treatment of the whole bean that inactivates the enzyme before it can cause
any off-flavor. The bland whole bean can then be used in a wide variety of processed
food products. The dry beans are cleaned, inspected to remove impurities and any dam- I
aged beans, and washed. The beans are soaked in tap water for about 4 hours--long
enough to double their weight--and then are heated in tap water at 210° to 212° F.
(99° to 100° C.) for about 10 minutes. In practice, the specific combination of time I
and temperature should be checked in each case, because there can be some variation,
depending on the variety of soybeans and the use to which they are to be put.
Alternatively, the process can be accomplished in one operation by placing the
clean dry beans in boiling tap water for about 20 minutes. If a softer or more ten-
der bean is desired, sodium bicarbonate can be added to the soak and blanch water at
0.5 percent, and the blanching time increased to as long as 30 minutes. It is par-
ticularly important to handle the beans carefully after soaking and before blanching. *
Any damage at that point will permit instant development of the undesirable off-flavor I
by the lipoxidaze enzyme. Soybeans treated in this way have been used in a number of
food products that have been favorably received by several taste panels.
182
SPACING PINE CHRISTMAS TREES
Growers of Christmas trees need to plant as many trees as possible on each acre in
order to use their land most profitably. A ten-year project carried out at the
University of Illinois Oquawka Field in Henderson County was designed to find out
how closely trees could be planted while still allowing the grower to harvest good-
quality family-size trees. Three commonly grown species--Scotch, white, and red
pines--were used in the study. The stock consisted of two-year-old Scotch pine,
and three-year old white and red pine seedlings; 447 trees of each species were plan-
ted and 97 percent survived. Weeds were controlled by mowing and spraying with herbi-
cides. Shearing the trees to control their shape and to increase density of foli-
age was begun in June during the fourth growing season after planting.
Harvest of Scotch pines was begun six years after planting; white and red pines
were harvested seven years after planting. Trees were 5 to 8 feet tall when har-
vested, with the majority being no more than 7 feet. Whenever possible, salable
trees were cut a year before probable contact with adjacent trees.
A 4-foot spacing was too close to develop high-quality trees. Many limb con-
tacts between adjacent trees were found among all three species at this spacing.
Another problem with 4-foot spacing was that several trees reached salable size but
were not yet of salable grade. The 5-foot spacing was acceptable for Scotch and
white pines up to 7 feet tall, but red pines would not grow well even at this spa-
cing.
Close spacing tends to increase height at the expense of shape. All 6- to 8-
foot-tall Scotch pines that were measured in the 4-foot spacing had some lower limbs
that outgrew their radial space of 2 feet. But with 5-foot spacing they had plenty
of room for limb growth. None of the Scotch pines with 5-foot spacing were more
than 7 feet tall when harvest was begun.
About 75 percent of the 6- to 7-foot-tall white pines with 4-foot spacing had
some limbs that outgrew their radial space of 2 feet. Five-foot spacing was gener-
ally adequate for white pines, and these were the easiest of the three species to
shape.
Red pines tended to develop a very wide crown even with shaping and as a re-
sult the lower limbs of the smaller red pines outgrew their 2-foot radial growth
space more frequently than did either Scotch or white pines of the same size. This
made 4-foot spacing unacceptable. Even with 5-foot spacing, 40 percent of the red
pines 6 to 7 feet tall, and all of those 7 to 8 feet tall, outgrew their radial
growth space of 2% feet. Larger red pines tended to shed more needles than is de-
sirable.
183
SPOILAGE PROBLEMS WITH WET CORN
It is estimated that at least 5 percent of the 6-billion-bushel corn crop in the
United States is lost during handling and storage because the corn goes into storage
before its moisture content is reduced to the 15-percent level normally considered
safe to prevent spoilage. The problem has become more important with increasing use
of picker-sheller equipment which operates most efficiently when the moisture content
is about 23 percent.
Since the most common factor contributing to the spoilage of wet corn is mold,
drying is commonly practiced to prevent the development of molds, the spores of which
are already present on the corn at harvest time. Since mold growth is known to be
inhibited by low levels of 0? and by fairly high levels of CCL in the ambient air,
M.P. Steinberg and co-workers in the Department of Food Science undertook to deter-
mine the effect of continuous flushing with carbon dioxide-air atmospheres, both
alone and in combination with partial drying and addition of preservatives, on the
length of storage time elapsing before corn would be considered spoiled.
Yellow dent field corn of the XL66 hybrid was harvested and stored in 50-gallord
drums at 0° F. The atmospheres used for flushing contained 20, 40, 60, 80, or
90 percent C0_ for comparison with a 100-percent-air control. Half-gallon Mason
jars holding 2 pounds of corn were continuously flushed with the desired storage
atmosphere at a flow rate of 1/6 cubic foot per hour. Other tests were run witn 25-
pound samples in stainless steel bins of 2^-cubic-foot capacity flushed continuously
at 2 cubic feet per hour. All storage experiments were conducted at 70° 3°F., with
chemical and microbial tests being made on aliquot samples at three-day intervals.
Untreated wet corn showed a tenfold increase in yeast-plus-mold counts with
each three days of storage. Separate mold and yeast counts were parallel to the
yeast-plus^mold counts.
In order to relate the counts from each experiment to the "storability" of
wet corn under the specified conditions, a criterion designated "safe storage time"
(SST) was arbitrarily defined as the time required for a sample of corn to reach a
yeast-plus-mold count of 130,000 per gram of dry weight.
A slight increase, from 5 to 6 days, in SST for untreated corn at a water ac-
tivity of one was observed as the C0„ content of the storage atmosphere was increased]
from 0 to 90 percent. A much more pronounced increase in SST, from 7 to 26 days,
was observed when corn treated with 0.1 percent sorbate was stored under similar
conditions.
All three main variables--CO? content of the storage atmosphere, treatment of
the corn with K sorbate, and water activity of the corn--significantly affected the
SST of wet corn, but the application of any single variable at a desirable level
was of limited practical value. However, a substantial increase in SST was observed
when two of the treatments were applied in combination. Thus high CO, in the storage
atmosphere showed a synergistic effect with either K sorbate treatment or reduction
of water activity.
184
STAFF IN 1922
The staff in the College of Agriculture as listed in the Faculty and Student Direc-
tory dated November, 1922, consisted of 159 academic and 51 nonacademic appointees,
a total of 100. They were designated by title as:
Professor 16
Associate Professor 8
Assistant Professor 26
Associate 34
Instructor 13
First Assistant 7
Assistant 34
Assistant State Leader:
Agriculture 5
Home Economics 4
Extension Specialist 5
Other 7
Nonacademic :
159
Secretary, Stenographer,
Clerk, Editorial Assistant,
Junior Accountant, etc. 51
210
The academic departments were Agronomy, Animal Husbandry, Dairy Husbandry, Farm
Mechanics, Farm Organization and Management, Home Economics, and Horticulture.
The following held academic appointments in each of the seven departments:
Herbert W. Mumford, Dean and Director
Agronomy
Burlison. William Leonidas, Ph.D., Professor of Crop Production and Head of Depart-
ment
Anderson, Joshua Clayton, B.S., First Assistant in Soil Fertility
Badger, Carroll John, B.S., Assistant in Soil Survey Experimental Fields
Bauer, Frederick Charles, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Agronomy
Carney, Sidney Sylvester, B.S., Assistant in Crop Production
Clark, Bruce Byrne, B.S., Assistant in Soil Survey
Coale, John William, B.S., Assistant in Soil Survey Mapping
Crammond , Ralph Gibson, B.S., Assistant in Soil Survey Mapping
Crane, Floyd Hamilton, B.S., Instructor in Soil Fertility
DeTurk, Ernest E., Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Soil Technology
Dungan, George Harlan, M.S., Associate in Crop Production
El 1 i , Orland I., B.S., Assistant Chief in Soil Survey
Fager, George Edward, B.S., Associate in Plant Breeding
Hackleman, Jay Courtland, A.M. , Associate Professor of Crops Extension
185
Harland, Marion Boyer, B.S., Instructor in Soil Physics
Hein, Mason A., B.S., First Assistant, Soil Survey Experimental Fields
Hiltabrand, Wendell Phillips, B.S. Associate in Soil Survey Mapping
Iftner, George Henry, B.S., Assistant in Crop Production
Jones, Carl Delmar, B.S., Assistant in Soil Fertility
Karraker, Alva Hugo, B.S., Associate in Soil Survey Experimental Fields
Lamb, John, Jr., B.S., Associate in Soil Survey Experimental Fields
Lang, Alvin Leonard, B.S., Assistant in Soil Survey Experimental Fields
Lawson, B. Carl, B.S., Assistant in Crop Production
Linsley, Clyde Maurice, B.S., Associate in Soil Survey
Marquedant, Tsabel Mildred, B.S., Assistant in Plant Breeding
Morrison, Clay Alexander, B.S., Assistant in Soil Survey
Norton, Ethan Arlo, B.S., First Assistant in Soil Survey
Richmond, Thomas Everett, M.SC, Associate in Soil Biology
Sears, Ogle Hesse, M.S., Assistant Professor in Soil Fertility
Smith, Louie Henrie, Ph.D., Chief in charge of Publications , Soil Survey
Smith, Raymond Stratton, Ph.D, Assistant Professor of Soil Physics
Snider, Howard John, M.S., Assistant Professor of Agronomy
Spencer, Victor Elwin, B.S., Instructor in Soil Fertility
Stark, Robert Watt, B.S., First Assistant in Crops
Thomas, Royle Price, B.S., Assistant, Soil Survey Experimental Fields
Thor, Alfred Ulano, B.S., Assistant in Soil Fertility
Vanderveen, George, B.S., Instructor in Soil Fertility
Wimer, David Cleveland, M.S., Assistant Professor of Soil Physics
Winter, Floyd Leslie, B.S., Assistant in Plant Breeding
Wolkoff, Michael Ivanovitch, Ph.D., Associate in Soil Survey Analysis
Woodworth, Clyde Melvin, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Plant Breeding
Animal Husbandry
Rusk, Henry Perly, M.S., Professor of Cattle Husbandry and Head of Department
Baker, John Babcock, B.S., Assistant in Animal Nutrition
Boughton, Ivan Bertrand, D.V.M., Associate in Animal Pathology
Bull, Sleeter, M.S., Assistant Professor of Animal Husbandry and Assistant Chief in
Meats
Card, Leslie Ellsworth, Ph.D., Professor of Poultry Husbandry
Carman, Gage Griffin, B.S., Assistant in Animal Nutrition
Clark, Marshall G., B.S., Assistant in Animal Husbandry
Crawford, Chalmers Woodruff, B.S., Associate in Animal Husbandry
Edmonds, James Lloyd, B.S., Professor of Horse Husbandry
Graham, Robert, D.V.M., Professor of Animal Pathology and Hygiene
Grindley, Harry Sands, Sc.D., Professor of Animal Nutrition
Hamilton, Tom Sherman, M.S., First Assistant in Animal Nutrition
Kammlade, William Garfield, M.S., Associate in Sheep Husbandry
Keith, Mary Helen, A.M. , First Assistant in Animal Nutrition
Kendall, Forrest Everett, B.S., Assistant in Animal Nutrition
Knox, John Harvey, B.S., Assistant in Animal Husbandry
Laible, Russell James, B.S., Assistant in Animal Husbandry
Luhnow, Lester A., B.S., Assistant in Animal Husbandry
Mackey, Arthur Kapp, B.S., Assistant in Animal Husbandry
Mitchell, Harold Hanson, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Animal Nutrition
Rice, loan Benjamin, M.S., Associate in Animal Husbandry
Robert i , Elmer, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Animal Breeding
Smith, William Herschel, M.S., Associate Professor of Animal Husbandry
186
Snapp, Roscoe Raymond, M.S., Assistant Professor of Animal Husbandry
Uyei, Nao, M.S., Assistant in Animal Nutrition
Dairy Husbandry
Ruehe, Harrison August, Ph.D., Professor of Dairy Manufactures and Head of the
Department
Ambrose, Arthur Samuel, M.S., Assistant Professor of Dairy Manufactures
Brannon, James Marshall, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Dairy Bacteriology
Campbell, Mason Herbert, M.S., Associate in Dairy Husbandry
Davidson, Fred Alexander, B.S., Instructor in Dairy Husbandry
Hall, Hugh Fisher, B.S., First Assistant in Dairy Economics
Munkwitz, Richard Charles, B.S., Assistant in Dairy Production
Nev ens, William Barbour, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Dairy Cattle Production
Overman, Oliver Ralph, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Dairy Chemistry
Prucha, Martin John, Ph.D., Professor of Dairy Bacteriology
Rhode, Chris Simeon, B.S., Assistant Professor of Dairy Husbandry Extension
Ross, Harry Albert, M.S., Associate in Dairy Economics
Sanmann, Frank Paul, B.S., Instructor in Dairy Chemistry
Stiritz, Benjamin Andrew, M.S., Associate in Dairy Manufactures
Tracy, Paul Hubert, M.S., Instructor in Dairy Manufactures
Yapp, William Wodin, M.S., Assistant Professor of Dairy Cattle
Farm Mechanics
Lehmann, Emil Wilhelm, E.E., A.E., Professor of Farm Mechanics and Head of
Department
Hanson, Frank Paul, B.S., Extension Specialist in Farm Mechanics
Hedgcock, John Harrison, B.S., Associate in Farm Mechanics
Scholl, Carl A., B.S., Associate in Farm Mechanics
Shawl, Ray Iris, M.S., Assistant Professor of Farm Mechanics
Farm Organization and Management
Case, Harold Clayton M. , M.S.. Assistant Professor of Farm Organization and Manage-
ment and Acting Head of Department
Berg, Herbert Andrew, B,S., Field Assistant in Farm Organization and Management
Donovan, Raymond Leslie, B.S., Assistant Professor of Farm Management
Rauchenstein, Emil, F.S., Assistant Professor of Farm organization and Management
Rhue, Lena Cecelia, B.S., Assistant in Farm Organization and Management
Roth, Walter John, M.S., Associate in Farm Organization and Management
Small, Dee, B.S., Field Assistant in Farm Organization and Management
Home Economics
Wardall, Ruth Aimee, A.M., Professor of Home Economics and Head of Department
Barer, Adelaide Pauline, M.S., Instructor in Foods
Barto, Harriet Thompson, A.M., Assistant Professor of Dietetics
Bond, Lyda, B.S., Associate in Home Economics and Director of Lunch Room
Harris, Feme, A.B., Assistant State Leader, Home Economics Extension
Haugh, Margie B. , Ph.B., Clothing Specialist, Home Economics Extension
Ingalls, Ida, A.B., Assistant in Clothing
Jacobsen, Eda Augusta, A.M., Associate in Clothing
McCullough, Helen E., A.M. Instructor in Textiles
MacGregor, Marian Craig, A.B., Assistant in Lunch Room
187
Mullen, Mary Ellen B.S., Instructor in Home Decoration
O'Laughlin, Margaret Agnes, M.S., Instructor in Home Economics
Robinson, Anna Belle, A.B., Associate in Home Economics
Sims, Marjorie, A.M., Home Management Specialist, Extension
Todd, Elisabeth, Ph.B., Associate in Home Economics Education
Van Aken, Kathryn Grace, A.B., Assistant State Leader in Home Economics Extension
Weaver, Virginia Hoyt , A.M., Associate in Home Decoration and Dress Design
Weldon, Myrtle, A.M., Assistant State Leader in Home Economics Extension
Wilkerson, Mabel, Ph.B., Home Furnishings Specialist, Home Economics Extension
Horticulture
Blair, Joseph Cullen, Sc.D., Professor of Horticulture and Head of Department
Anderson, Harry Warren, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Pomological Pathology
Axr, Ridgely Wilson, B.S., Assistant in Olericulture
Brock, William Sanford, A.B., Assistant Professor of Horticulture Extension
Carver, Frederick Elmer, B.S., Assistant in Pomology
Colby, Arthur Samuel, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Pomology
Crandall, Charles Spencer, M.S., Professor of Pomology and Chief in Plant Breeding
Dale, Charles Sherman, A.M., Associate in Olericulture
Dorner, Herman Bernard, M.S., Professor of Floriculture
Hall, Stanley William, B.S., Associate in Floriculture
Huelsen, Walter August, B.S., Associate in Olericulture
Hutchinson, James, Associate in Floriculture
Lloyd, John William. Ph.D., Professor of Olericulture
Lohmann, Karl B., M.L.A., Associate Professor of Landscape Gardening
McAdams, May Elizabeth, B.S., Associate in Landscape Gardening
Mohlman, Harry, B.S., Instructor in Floriculture
Newton, Frank Wilson, B.S., Assistant in Pomology
Peterson, Irving Leonard, B.S., Associate in Landscape Gardening
Pickett, Bethel Stewart, M.S., Professor of Pomology
Sayre, Charles Bovett, B.S., Assistant Professor of Olericulture
Vogele, Alfred Charles, M.S., Associate in Pomology
Weinard, Frederick Francis, Ph.D., Associate in Floricultural Physiology
188
STALKLAGE AND HUSKLAGE FOR WINTERING BEEF CATTLE
In many Illinois beef herds, calves are born in the spring and are weaned in October
or November. Thus a cow suckles her calf for about seven months and rests for
five. During the dry gestation period her nutritional requirements are relatively
low. On many of these same farms, field shelling of corn is common, so that or-
dinarily neither harvested cobs nor stalks are readily available as a roughage. With
these things in mind, researchers in the Department of Agricultural Engineering set
about designing and building a suitable corn-forage harvesting machine, and animal
scientists undertook to determine the extent to which such forage could be used in
maintenance rations for beef cows and pregnant heifers.
The problem of building a corn-forage harvesting machine was presented to a
senior design class of agricultural engineers. It later grew into a master's thesis
project. Two main design criteria were apparent:
1. The machine must be low-cost. Corn forage does not have a high value, and
since there are many more stalks than there are cows to eat them, a corn-forage har-
vester would be used on only a small percentage of any one farm's corn acreage.
2. The forage-harvesting operation should complement not compete with the har-
vesting of shelled corn.
The eventual proposal was to convert a conventional corn combine into a corn-
forage harvester. An out-of-production cut-off corn head replaced the conventional
corn head, and a chopper was mounted at the rear of the combine. The whole stalk
would thus be cut off and fed through the combine cylinder; the grain threshed,
separated out, and deposited in the grain tank; and the forage, including the cobs,
would go back into the chopper from which it would be blown into a trailing wagon.
A four-row combine was used to provide adequate power for the two-row corn-
forage harvester. The drive wheel tread was modified to adapt the machine to two
rows 40 inches apart, and the combine frame was extended to accommodate a 36-inch-
wide cylinder from a forage harvester. Power to drive the harvester was obtained
from the beater shaft through two right-angle gear boxes and a drive shaft. The
original feeder mechanism of the chopper had to be shortened. As modified, this
machine performed adequately in the field.
Stalklage was ensiled directly after combining when it was most succulent. Three
different methods were used: conventional upright concrete silos, Harvestore oxygen-
free structures, and piles under plastic with vacuum seal. Adequate moisture and
fine chopping favored packing and good ensiling. Moisture up to 65 percent was found
most suitable; this can be achieved by metering water to the stalklage in conventional
si los .
Some protein supplement is necessary, and soybean meal, urea, and biuret each
gave good results. Because of their low palatabi 1 ity, it is best to add urea and
biuret before ensiling rather than at feeding time. Cracked corn and molasses can
be added to provide readily available carbohydrates and to improve the utilization
of ur a and biuret as well as to assure favorable lactic acid formation.
189
In metabolism studies with paired identical-twin cows, digestibility of the
dry matter in stalklage averaged 56 percent as compared with 65 percent for corn
silage.
Cows tend to sort out and eat first the more finely chopped forage, but they
did not do any sorting when the forage was rechopped through a 3-inch screen, either
before ensiling or at feeding time.
The yield of 50-percent-moisture forage was 5 to 6 tons per acre during each
year of the study. One acre would thus produce enough roughage to winter two cows
for 120 days. This suggests that 7.5 million acres of combined corn in Illinois
offer a tremendous potential of feed for winter maintenance of beef cows.
In a later study, husklage (husks, cobs, and thrown-over grain) was compared
with stalklage and ordinary corn silage. Three types of husklage were used--medium-
chop, just as it came from the adapted machine; fine-chop, rechopped through a 3-inch
screen; and no-cnop, salvaged by removing the cutter knives from the combine. All
forages were ensiled in the same way; stacks of about 20 tons each were enclosed in
plastic and ensiled by the vacuum-seal method. Metered amounts of water were added
to both stalklage and husklage to approximate 65 percent moisture. Results were as
fol lows :
Forage, lb. per head daily
Soybean meal (50% C.P. ) ,
lb. per head daily
Average daily gain, lb.
Digestibility of dry matter
Soybean meal was fed with molasses stalklage the last 21 days only.
Husklage
St
alklage
Corn silage
30.0
30.0
35.0
1.5
1.5a
1.5
0.73
0.11
1.24
60.0%
55.4%
65.0%
190
SUCCESSION OF FETUSES AT PARTURITION ON THE PIG
The pig has a bicomate uterus with a common uterine body and cervix. Fertilized
eggs, and therefore fetuses, normally are fairly well distributed in both uterine
horns. An interesting question that P.J. Dziuk and B.C. Harmon in the Department
of Animal Science undertook to answer is the normal order of birth of fetuses with
reference to their position in the two uterine horns.
Eleven Yorkshire gilts were used in the study. They were mated to Yorkshire
boars at either the first or second postpubertal heat. Seventy-five to ninety-five
days later, the uteri were exteriorized by midventral laparotomy under general an-
esthesia. Each fetus in one uterine horn was marked for later identification by
injecting 0.1 ml. of a 2.5-percent solution of dianil blue. The dye was injected
with a 24-gauge needle through the wall of the uterus into a left or right ear, a
left or right shoulder, or a combination, so that each fetus was designated accord-
ing to its position in the horn. Size of each fetus and its anterior-posterior
orientation in the uterus--whcther head or tail was toward the uterine body--were
recorded. The dianil blue remained readily visible when the pigs were three weeks
old.
At the 110th day of gestation, each gilt was placed in a separate pen and kept
under continuous observation until after parturition. Each pig was then ear-notched
at birth with a number showing its order in the litter. Time of birth was recorded,
along with a notation of the distinguishing dyemarking, if present, and whether
presentation was anterior or posterior.
The gilts had no complications at parturition, which lasted from 83 to 820 min-
utes. Each of 54 fetuses came from the same horn as its predecessor, and 52 came
from the horn opposite from that of its predecessor.
In one gilt, one horn was completely emptied, after which the other horn was
emptied. In another gilt, one horn was partially emptied, and then the other horn
was completely emptied before any more fetuses came from the first horn. In the
remaining 9 gilts, fetuses were presented randomly from tne two horns. Usually,
but not always, they were presented in the same anterior-posterior orientation that
they had when marked at the time of laparotomy.
191
SUPER SWEET CORN
The backgr. ind for Super Sweet Corn began in 1948 when E.B. Mains at the University
of Michigan found a new mutant gene in corn. It was designated sh? for shrunken.
Two years liter, John R. Laughnan at Illinois became interested in it as a genetic
marker gene in his corn breeding work. It wasn't long until he discovered that the
mutant strain produced kernels that were much sweeter than those of normal sweet corn
varieties.
The genetic analysis proved extremely interesting, even though it turned out to
be relatively simple. Ordinary sweet corn is itself a mutant strain of field corn
and is sweet because it carries the mutant gene su for sugary. The new mutant gene
sh~ is located in the third chromosome, whereas the su gene is in the fourth chromo-
some. Both genes are recessive, and a single plant may contain both.
In field corn, which carries the dominant counterparts of su, the simple carbo- I
hydrates that move into the developing ear in the form of sucrose sugar are rapidly
converted in the kernel to soluble dextrins and then to starch. This means that the
mature endosperm, packed solidly with starch, has a low sugar content, and field corn
is not sweet.
When the shrunken strain is crossed with sugary, the F hybrid kernels are nor-
mal in appearance; but when the hybrid plants grown from these kernels are self-
pollinated, four types of kernels appear among the offspring, each readily distin-
guishable from the others by appearance. The sh-2 kernels at maturity have four times
the sugar content of su kernels, and at normal picking time about twice that of su.
About 85 percent of the sugar in s^ endosperm is sucrose, whereas in su endosperm
only about 60 percent is sucrose.
Ordinary sweet corn is sweet because the su gene is an inefficient converter of
soluble dextrins to starch, thus permitting an increase of sucrose sugar in the nor-
mal sweet corn kernels. The corresponding effect of the s/^ gene is to make the
transformation of sucrose to dextrin inefficient, thereby partially blocking starch
formation at an earlier stage, leaving a maximum of sucrose and making the kernels
taste much sweeter than those of ordinary sweet corn. Super Sweet kernels contain
even less starch than those of ordinary sweet corn, and from five to eight times as
much sugar as dent corn.
Furthermore, the sugary su strains lose about two-thirds of their sugar in the
first 48 hours after harvesting, a distinct disadvantage for both the home gardener
and the commercial canner. The sh.2 strains, by contrast, lose only about a fifth of
their higher content of sucrose in the same length of time, so that the period of har-
vest for cither table use or canning is not critical.
Fortunately, a comparatively simple breeding program established Super Sweet
counterparts of both Golden Cross and Iochief hybrids. Super Sweet kernels are not
only sweeter but plumper, more crisp, and in general more flavorsome than those of
conventional sugary strains.
•192
SWEET CORN BREEDING
Illinois has long been the leading state in commercial sweet corn production,
so it was only natural that the Experiment Station should undertake a long-time pro-
ject in sweet corn breeding, beginning in 1922, with W.A. Huelsen as leader of the
project.
At that time canners were interested primarily in white corn, and the early
studies were therefore concerned chiefly with Country Gentleman and Narrow Grain
Evergreen as original parents. The first Country Gentleman hybrids were released
to the canning trade in 1933. These and the crosses released later soon replaced
the open-pollinated Country Gentleman in commercial fields. The advantages claimed
by growers were less variation in yield from year to year and a significantly great-
er recovery of prime cut kernels per ton of unhusked ears.
Inbred lines were released under contract to seedsmen who were making a spe-
cialty of sweet corn, who employed trained plant breeders, and who had the neces-
sary drying equipment. The seedsmen then received supervision by Station repre-
sentatives over a three-year period. Crosses were used primarily by canners who
specialized in white corn.
The most popular crosses were Country Gentleman "8 x 6" and "5 x 10" because
of superior canning quality, wide adaptability, high yield of prime cut kernels,
and resistance to drouth, smut, and tassel-blasting. They could be grown wher-
ever open-pollinated Country Gentleman strains succeeded.
Until 1942 practically the entire commercial pack of sweet corn in the United
States consisted of white cream-style corn. Interest in yellow corn developed
slowly at first, but by 1946 about 85 percent of the entire pack was yellow corn.
Cream style also lost in favor and was gradually replaced by whole-kernel pack.
While Illinois workers were developing white inbred lines and crosses, Purdue
researchers were working with yellow corn and developed Golden Cross Bantam. Using
this as a starting point, Illinois workers developed two yellow hybrids, Illinois
Golden No, 10 and Hybrid 65a x 89a, an eight-rowed cross suitable for packing as
corn-on-the-cob. Illinois Golden No. 10 proved to be one of the very few yellow
hybrids suitable for machine harvesting. It has a stiff stalk, is practically
without suckers, and is resistant to corn ear worms.
193
SWINE TYPE STUDIES
The 15-year period following 1908 witnessed the development and growing popularity
of a new tvpe of hog within the standard breeds of swine in the United States. Lard
had become less valuable, and small lean cuts of choice-quality pork were in demand
at retail outlets. The Illinois Station began in 1922 a series of investigations
to determine which of five types of lard hog (Poland China) --Very Chuffy, Chuffy,
Intermediate, Rangy, and Very Rangy--would most economically meet existing market
requirements. All of these types were found on farms in the Corn Belt.
First was the matter of rate and economy of gain. Over 300 pigs of the five
types were studied during 1922-1924, most being individually fed from an initial
weight of 70 pounds to a final weight of approximately 225 pounds. The Interme-
diate type of hog tended to make more rapid and economical gains than the Very
Chuffy or Very Rangy, but the differences proved not to be statistically signifi-
cant.
Surprisingly, when hogs were self-fed, there was no difference in the lean
carcass content of the Chuffy, Intermediate, and Rangy types. The Very Rangy car-
casses contained a little more lean than the other types, and the Very Chuffy car-
casses a little less. Similarly, there was little difference in cutting percentages
between the Chuffy, Intermediate, and Rangy types when self-fed in drylot. From
the butcher's standpoint, the Intermediate type, either hand- or self-fed, proved
the most desirable of the five types studied. The Rangy type, however, was quite
acceptable if self-fed.
Nutritional studies were related to the energy and protein requirements of
growing swine of the five types, and to the efficiency with which they utilized
feed energy in growth. Experimental data obtained included: (1) the body composi-
tion of growing and fattening pigs at different weights, (2) their maintenance
requirements, (3) the rates at which the different nutrients were deposited in the
carcasses during growth and fattening, and (4) the relation between feed (and food
nutrients) consumed above maintenance requirements and the nutrients recovered in
the gains of the pigs. More than 150 pigs were slaughtered at different weights
and analyzed individually for dry matter, total nitrogen, fat (ether extract), ash,
and gross energy. All feed used was submitted to routine analysis and gross energy
determination.
The dressed carcasses of pigs of distinctly different type slaughtered at the
same weight, although differing distinctly in market finish, analyzed very nearly
the same. It was apparent that carcasses differed in the distribution of fat but
not in the total content of fat.
In general, especially at heavier weights, the Intermediate-type pigs were
more economical of food energy for maintenance than the Chuffy or Very Chuffy types,
but no type differences were detected in total feed utilization. With a ration
on.isting of yellow corn, middlings, and tankage, about 1 pound per day per 100
pour, 's of live weight was required to maintain body weight, both for young pigs
weigning 50 to 70 pounds and for fat pigs weighing 225 pounds or more.
194
The percentage composition of pigs killed at increasing weights showed increas-
ing contents of dry matter and fat and decreasing contents of protein and ash. After
a weight of 150 to 175 pounds, corresponding to an age of 25 to 30 weeks, the com-
position of pigs, expressed on a "fat-free, empty weight" or "protoplasmic" basis,
was remarkably constant and appeared to be unaffected by the system of feeding.
This composition, characteristic of maturity, consisted of 75 to 76 percent water,
20 to 21 percent crude protein, and approximately 4 percent ash.
In gaining weight from 65 to 225 pounds, the pigs analyzed in this experiment
deposited 74 percent of the added dry matter, 15 percent of the added ash, 78 per-
cent of the added energy in the boneless meat of the dressed carcass. Eighty per-
cent of the added protein and 24 percent of the added energy were stored in the
lean meat.
195
SYNTHETIC MULCHES FOR VEGETABLE CROPS
For many years, home gardeners and some commercial growers have used organic mul-
ches on vegetable crops to control weeds, conserve moisture, and increase yields.
More recently, synthetic mulches in the form of plastic or paper sheets have become
available for use by commercial growers. They have an added advantage in that they
will increase soil temperatures, thus permitting earlier harvesting of crops, but
for many there is the disadvantage that they must be removed by hand at the end of
the season. Some paper mulches will decompose, thus eliminating the removal pro-
blem.
Researchers in the Department of Horticulture tested a variety of both paper
and plastic mulches for several years, laying the mulch mechanically between rows.
Later a planter developed in the Department of Agricultural Engineering was used
to seed through the mulch by means of sharp-pointed valves on the rim of the plant-
er wheel. This combination proved satisfactory for squash, cucumber, and water-
melon seed both at Urbana and at the Dixon Springs Agricultural Center. The prac-
tice can be economically justified if the following benefits are obtained:
1. Retention of soil moisture and control of erosion.
2. Higher soil temperatures, which result in rapid germination and
earlier and faster plant growth.
3. Increased yields of healthier, cleaner fruits.
4. Excellent weed control.
5. Reduced insect damage if treated mulches are used.
Soil fumigation prior to mulching and seeding can also be used to control para-
sitic nematodes.
196
TRANSMISSIBLE GASTROENTERITIS (TGE) OF SWINE
Transmissible gastroenteritis (TGE) of swine is a most unusual sort of disease. It
can be tragic for a swine producer on a short-term basis in that when the infection
strikes in a farrowing house, death losses may amount to 90 percent of the pigs
that normally would be saved at farrowing time. On the other hand, it tends to be
self-limiting in that if the sows are rebred, the colostrum which they produce for
the next crop of pigs confers immunity on those pigs so that further losses are vir-
tually nil.
Doctor Miodrag Ristic and co-workers in the College of Veterinary Medicine and
the Experiment Station devoted a great deal of time to a study of the physiology
and pathogenesis of the disease. In one series of tests, two domestic and two for-
eign isolates of the virus were grown in pig and dog kidney tissue culture monolay-
ers in order to study their developmental sequence. These monolayers were stained
by the fluorescent antibody (FA) and acridine orange (AO) techniques, which revealed
the presence of minute fluorescing particles in the cytoplasm as early as 6 hours
after exposing the culture to the virus. Thickening and fragmentation of the nu-
clear membrane were observed at 6 hours, but more markedly at 8 to 9 hours after
inoculation.
The minute intracytoplasmic particles became particularly prominent following
RNA-ase digestion of the cytoplasm. When pepsin treatment was followed by RNA-ase
action, the RNA staining particles could no longer be detected.
Examinations of AO- and FA-stained frozen sections of small intestines of baby
pigs at 10 to 14 hours after infection revealed the presence of light orange (AO)
and yellow-green (FA) particles in the cytoplasm of the epithelial cells at the tips
of the villi.
These findings prompted the conclusion that the site of maturation of the trans-
missible gastroenteritis virus of the swine under study was intracytoplasmic, and
the resulting enzyme studies indicated that its nucleic acid is of the RNA type.
A pig-origin purified-virus vaccine was later developed for administration to
sows in capsule form. This form of vaccine has two advantages over the question-
able practice of feeding the intestines of infected pigs:
1. The capsule contains high concentrations of the TGE virus free of other
pathogens which might complicate the disease,
2. Giving concentrated virus in capsules makes certain that each sow will re-
ceive an adequate amount of virus to reinforce her basic immunity. When the anti-
body passes into the sow's milk, it is effective in preventing TGE in baby pigs.
Such use of the vaccine may control TGE on farms where there have been outbreaks
or on farms endangered by the presence of the disease in the neighborhood.
197
TRANSUTERINE MIGRATION OF EMBRYOS IN THE PIG
Intrauterine migration of embryos is known to occur in many mammals, and has been
regarded as a means of equalizing the distribution of embryos in cases of disparity
in the number of fertilized eggs from each ovary. P.J. Dziuk and associates in
the Department of Animal Science undertook to determine the time of migration of
embryos in the pig and the effect of varying their numbers on the rate of migration
and on distribution.
Ninety-one gilts were tested daily for estrus in the presence of a boar, and were
bred on the first day of estrus either by natural mating or by artificial insemina-
tion. The day after breeding was designated as day one.
Uterine surgery was carried out aseptically via midventral laparotomy, using
general anesthesia. In 36 of the gilts, one oviduct was occluded at six months of
age by removing a section of the isthmus about 1 cm. long between two ligatures.
Embryos could then enter from one oviduct only. The number of eggs entering the
one uterine horn would be the same as in a normal pig, but the total number of em-
bryos would be halved.
In 48 of the gilts, one ovary was removed when they were six months old. The
remaining ovary was able to compensate, and produced the same number of eggs as
two ovaries would produce in the intact gilt. The number of eggs entering the ut-
erus from one oviduct would then be doubled.
Uteri of seven pregnant gilts (three with one oviduct occluded and four with
one ovary removed) were examined on each of days 6, 7,. 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, and 15
of gestation. Migration of embryos from one horn to the other usually occurred
first on day 8 or 9, and the uterus was completely occupied by day 15.
Rate of migration and distribution of embryos were not affected by number of
embryos, number of corporea lutea, or by uterine length. Uterine length did not
change between day 6 and 15. Bilateral ovariectomy after breeding, however, was
associated with arrested growth of embryos, a decreased rate of embryo migration,
and a reduction in uterine length.
Observations in this study confirmed earlier reports that transuterine migra-
tion of pig embryos is the rule rather than the exception. The time of transuterine
migration was documented, and appears to occur ordinarily after day 6 and before
day 11 of gestation. Migration and spacing continue until at least day 15 and per-
haps longer.
198
URBANA WEATHER STATION
The Urbana weather station on the campus of the University of Illinois, now called
the Morrow Plots weather station, is one of the oldest University installations still
in operation and is unique in comparison with other weather stations in the state.
Established initially to obtain weather data for agricultural experiments, it has
become a source of such data for the entire university, the local community of Urbana-
Champaign, and the U.S. Weather Bureau.
The station opened on August 17, 1888, and has been in continuous operation
ever since. It is one of 15 stations east of the Rocky Mountains selected by the
U.S. Weather Bureau as bench mark stations for the study of past and future climatic
changes in the United States. The station has also been a part of the Weather Bu-
reau's cooperative climatological station network since 1902. Making observations
of weather conditions and recording these observations were originally performed as
Experiment No. 76 of the Agricultural Experiment Station. In addition to the usual
observations of temperature, relative humidity, precipitation, sky conditions, and
wind speed and direction, a continuous record of soil temperatures measured three
times daily at depths of 1, 3, 6, 9, 12, and 36 inches has been kept since July 1,
1897. Daily maximum and minimum soil temperatures at depths of 4 and 8 inches have
also been recorded since December 2, 1959.
A few unusual items may be worthy of mention. A severe windstorm, described
in the local newspapers as a "terrible typhoon," occurred at midnight on June 10,
1902, and accounted for the only loss of precipitation data from the station in its
long history. An entry in the station record for June 11 states "gauges blown off,"
and a footnote adds "Rain gauge blown 100 feet into a cornfield." Large numbers of
trees and buildings were severely damaged.
Probably the worst hailstorm ever experienced in the local area occurred on
April 4, 1927. Hailstones collected on campus measured as much as 4 inches in dia-
meter, the largest ever to occur locally since records began in 1888. Greenhouses
in Urbana and at the university lost about 40,000 square feet of glass; nearly 1,000
street light globes were broken in Urbana; and hailstones drove holes through many
home and automobile roofs.
Since May 1, 1948, the Morrow Plots station has been maintained and supervised
by the Illinois State Water Survey in connection with its meteorological research
related to the water resources of Illinois. In 1952 an additional station was in-
stalled at the University of Illinois Willard Airport, about five miles southwest
of the Morrow Plots station. And since March 1, 1951, continuous records of wind
speed and direction have been made with an aerovane instrument located on the roof
of the Water Resources Building. Another innovation was transferring the daily wea-
ther data for the years 1902-1955 as recorded for the Morrow Plots station to IBM
cards so that detailed climatological analyses can be more easily made.
Some of the persons closely associated with the weather station were W.L. Pills-
bury, J.G. Mosier, W.A. Mclntyre, R.S. Smith, H.P. Etler, and S.A. Changnon.
199
UREA IN RUMINANT NUTRITION
Some of the early work involving the use of urea in rations for sheep and lambs was
done by L.E. Harris and H.H. Mitchell and reported in 1940. Urea is a simple sub-
stance made from the elements of the air, and contains six times as much nitrogen as
soybean meal. When fed to sheep weighing about 34 kg. and ranging in age from 15
to 18 months in amounts commensurate with their requirements for maintenance, it
was not excreted through the skin but was utilized to the extent of about 90 percent.
In growth tests it was found that the addition of urea to a low-nitrogen ration
that was itself unable to support appreciable growth in lambs, or even consistently
to maintain nitrogen equilibrium, converted it into a ration capable of promoting a
normal or nearly normal rate of growth. It was concluded that nitrogen from urea is
as satisfactory for growing lambs as that from most ordinary feeds, provided at least
25 percent of the feed nitrogen is in the form of preformed protein, and provided
further that the total protein equivalent of urea does not exceed about 12 percent.
Rations containing up to 3 percent urea on a dry basis did not exert any observ-
able toxic effect on lambs over a feeding period of 110 days. Later work showed that
the addition of 0.2 percent elemental sulfur to a modified urea supplement increased
lamb gains significantly.
Success with urea in sheep feeding led to its use with cattle. In 1952-53 when
urea was fed to 800-pound yearling Hereford steers at a level which provided 60 per-
cent of the total nitrogen in the ration, retention values were normal and no signs
of toxicity were noted.
In later work it was found that a high-urea supplement formulated with ground
alfalfa and molasses provided stimulation to rumen fermentation that seems desirable
for the optimum utilization of urea.
200
VOCATIONAL AGRICULTURE SERVICE
What is now known as Vocational Agriculture Service had its beginning in February,
1938, when Melvin Henderson was appointed to the staff of the dean's office to give
full time to helping teachers of vocational agriculture in Illinois high schools in
the area of farm mechanics. Planning for this service had been a joint effort in-
volving the State Board of Vocational Education in Springfield, the Department of
Agricultural Engineering, and the dean's office of the College of Agriculture. Mr.
Henderson's broader responsibility was to serve as a liaison between the College of
Agriculture and the teachers of vocational agriculture, a policy which still con-
tinues.
Teaching materials prepared during the first year, in cooperation with teachers
in the schools and with assistance from staff members in Agricultural Engineering,
included such topics as forge work, cold metal work, gas engine ignition, mechanical
drawing, and woodwork. These materials were duplicated and sold to the schools at
cost. Another early development was a new scoring system for placings in various
judging contests in which students took part. Most scoring had been done on the
assumption that individuals in a given pair were always equidistant from each other
in terms of placings by the official judge. This, of course, was seldom the case,
and the new system recognized and made allowance for the sort of variable spacing
that often occurs. It also provided for machine scoring and soon became known
the Illinois Scoring System.
During 1939-40, one-day intensive courses in farm mechanics covering such sub-
jects as gasoline engine repair and adjustment, binder head adjustment, and electric
wiring were offered to teachers of vocational agriculture. These courses proved to
be extremely popular, and led to the offering of credit courses of similar content
that could be taken by prospective teachers while they were still undergraduates
in the College of Agriculture.
The service expanded rapidly to include the preparation of teaching aids in
soils, crops, animal husbandry, and farm management. The list of such available
aids eventually grew to more than 250, including such items as slidefilms and kits
for teaching electric wiring, service of electric motors, electrical controls, con-
crete construction, surveying, and engine analysis. More than 400 schools made use
of these kits on a loan basis.
Soil-testing kits were developed and distributed to some 400 schools, each kit
containing enough items to permit an entire class to test soil samples for acidity,
phosphorus, and potassium at one time. Mimeographed and multilithed materials have
varied from a single page to 50 or more pages, and editions of these have varied
from a few hundred copies to as many as 100,000 for some of the more popular subjects.
Several activities ot interest to teachers of vocational agriculture and to their
st Tents are held on the campus each year, sponsored jointly by the State Board of
Vocational Education and the College of Agriculture, including the state FFA con-
vention (the service helps publicize the activities of the Future Farmers of America),
state judging contests, state FFA Awards Day, and the annual conference of teachers
of vocational agriculture.
201
WATER ADSORPTION RATE OF WHEAT FLOUR
RELATED TO CAKE-BAKING PERFORMANCE
Data on moisture adsorption by foods are useful in the determination of techniques
for processing and packaging dehydrated foods, and for the prediction of undesirable
chemical, physical, and microbiological changes that might occur during storage of
such foods. Various workers have used a number of different methods, both direct and
indirect, for obtaining this kind of information.
A.I. Nelson and co-workers in the Department of Food Science, after reviewing
the available methods, succeeded in developing a piece of laboratory apparatus for
rapid determination of moisture-adsorption isotherms. They used freeze-dried wheat
flour containing about 1.5 percent of moisture, and determined the sorption isotherm j
over a relative humidity range from 5 to 80 percent . Their results agreed very closely
with those obtained by the use of the constant-relative-humidity desiccator technique.
Air at constant relative humidity was recirculated through a tube loosely packed-
with flour. Samples were weighed periodically, and curves of weight gain against
time were plotted. The adsorption rate characteristic increased linearly with rela-
tive humidity and decreased with increasing protein content of the flour samples.
The moisture adsorption isotherm of wheat flour was independent of the particle-J
size distribution of the flour, suggesting that water adsorption by flour is not a
surface phenomenon, but instead takes place on specific sites within the pores inside
the particles.
Cakes baked from flours of decreasing particle-size distributions had signifi-
cantly increasing volumes and decreasing sorptive capacity.
202
WATER LOSSES THROUGH SURFACE RUNOFF
Data on water runoff are important for the proper design of grass waterways, con-
crete structures, farm ponds, and other erosion-control structures in Illinois. A
ten-year study of this kind--the first applicable to central Illinois--was made by
B.A. Jones and R.L. McFall of the Department of Agricultural Engineering from 1950
to 1959 on two watersheds on the Robert Allerton farms near Monticello. The soils
involved were predominantly Drummer silty clay loam and Flanagan silt loam, moder-
ately permeable, dark-colored prairie soils with nearly level to gently sloping
topography, typical of central and parts of north-central Illinois. Watershed 1A
was on a grain farm and IB on a grain- livestock farm.
Average rainfall on the two watersheds for the ten-year period was 32.11 inches
annually and 22.09 inches during April to October, compared with the 1903-1954 fig-
ures for Urbana of 36.43 and 24.30 inches, respectively. Runoff and annual precipi-
tation are not necessarily related, however. Peak runoff normally follows heavy
rains and is greatly affected by ground cover and by slope in a given area. The
highest rate of runoff on Watershed 1A was 0.682 inch per acre per hour on July 9,
1951, and that on Watershed IB was only 0.327 inch on October 6, 1955. The differ-
ence of 0.355 inch reflected the effect of cropping practices, and emphasizes the im-
portance of having a sizable percentage of the land in good cover as much of the
time as possible.
203
WATER USE BY ROW CROPS
Each acre of land in Illinois normally receives 3,000 to 5,000 tons of water a year
in the form of rain or snow. About 80 percent of this is returned to the atmosphere,
either by evaporation from the soil surface or by transpiration from the leaf sur-
face of growing plants. Under Illinois conditions, it would take 200 to 300 tons of
coal or 50,000 gallons of gasoline per acre to supply as much energy as is represen-
ted by the 70 percent of absorbed radiant energy from the sun to accomplish the evap-
oration and transpiration. Rates of evaporation and transpiration vary greatly from
season to season. Potential water loss by way of these two processes is less than
normal rainfall during fall, winter, and early spring when days are relatively short
and cloudy, but exceeds normal rainfall by about 50 percent during June, July, and
August. This is the fundamental problem in water management. The moisture-storage
capacity of the soil, especially the subsoil, becomes important in bringing seasonal
water supply and demand into balance.
Soils differ greatly in their ability to store and retain available moisture,
as shown by the following examples:
Soil type
Inches of available water
To a depth
of 5 feet
In probable
rooting depth
Watseka loamy fine sand
Saybrook silt loam
Cisne silt loam
2.3
10.6
14.4
2.3
6.6
5.4
Soil properties which permit or limit the expansion of roots are also very im-
portant and affect the need for summer rainfall.
On an average summer day in Illinois, the absorbed radiant energy from the sun
is used about as follows:
Evaporation and transpiration
Photosynthesis
Heating the soil
Heating the air adjacent to
the soil and plant surfaces
70 percent
5 percent
10 percent
15 percent
Researchers M.B. Russell and D.P. Peters undertook to find out how a decrease
in the amount of evaporation would affect water use by row crops. They controlled
evaporation from corn and soybean plots in two ways: by covering the soil surface
with waterproof plastic, and by increasing the number of plants per acre. The plastic^
covered corn plots used only about half as much water as the uncovered plots, show-
ing that approximately half of the total water used to grow corn is actually lost
through evaporation instead of being utilized by the crop itself. Since nearly all
Illinois soils retain enough water to meet transpiration needs, it is obvious that
if some method could be devised to prevent or greatly reduce evaporation from the
204
soil, water would rarely be a problem in corn production in Illinois. The number
of plants per acre did not greatly affect total water use when there was ample water
available, because increased transpiration is largely balanced by a decrease in evapo-
ration.
In summary, cutting down on evaporation would mean more efficient use of both
summer rainfall and water stored in the subsoil. This can only be accomplished if
less solar energy is permitted to reach the soil surface or less vapor is allowed to
leave the soil.
205
WEED CONTROL
Historically, the state of Illinois has been seriously concerned with weed control
for at least 100 years. The Illinois Noxious Weed Law, known as the Canada Thistle
Act, was approved March 15, 1872. It defined noxious weeds, for the purposes of
the act, as Canada thistle (Cirsium arvense) and all its varieties, perennial sow
thistles (Sonchus arvensis) and European bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis) . It stat-
ed in part that "It shall be the duty of all owners of lands on which noxious weeds
are found growing, to destroy the same before they reach a seed bearing stage, and
to prevent such weeds from perpetuating themselves." This was 28 years before the
U.S. Department of Agriculture was granted federal funds for its first weed control
program, to find methods of control for johnsongrass.
More than half of the world's people live in the tropical zone and produce more
than half of the world's food crops, including all of the cassava, 95 percent of
the bananas, 90 percent of both rice and sugarcane, 80 percent of the peanuts, 50
percent of the millets and sorghum, and 25 percent of the corn and wheat. Probably
more human energy is expended in weeding these crops than in any other single task.
By contrast, in certain temperate-zone areas some major crops can be grown from plant-
ing to harvest without any hand-hoeing or weeding whatever. This, briefly, is the
story of weed control in the industrialized nations of the world during the past 25
years.
The earlier years saw a slow change from hand-hoeing and weeding to the use of
horse-drawn tillage tools that simultaneously accomplished reasonable weed control.
Beginning something more than 50 years ago, a few innovators experimented with chem-
ical control of certain weeds, but the real "chemical revolution" did not occur un-
til 1946, when 2,4-D appeared on the agricultural scene. Prior to that time, the
chemicals used with varying degrees of success included common salt, sulfuric acid,
iron sulfate, copper sulfate, sodium arsenite, and, finally sodium chlorate. This
last material was effective enough to result in the use of nearly 3,000,000 pounds
annually in Kansas by 1939, chiefly to control field bindweed.
J. J. Pieper, writing in 1930, pointed out that with the importation and intro-
duction of agricultural seed, mostly from Europe, came new weeds until about 75 per-
cent of the worst weeds in the Corn Belt had been imported. He also stressed that
a major factor in the weed problem is that weeds are prolific producers of seed.
While a corn plant does well to produce 1,000 seeds, or a wheat plant 100, careful
counts showed that an average cocklebur plant may produce 10,000 seeds, ragweed
23,000, crabgrass 90,000, pigweed 155,000, and purslane as many as 1,250,000.
Furthermore, the longevity of buried seeds is fantastic. Pieper cited an early
test made in Michigan, in which sets of 23 species of weed were buried 20 inches be-
low the surface of the ground on a sandy knoll and dug up for germination tests at
intervals of five years. In the last set, removed in 1919, 7 of the 23 species were
still alive after having been buried for 40 years.
Another problem is the continuing evolution of weed plant species whereby some
strains become resistant to herbicides such as 2,4-D, so that continued use of a
206
single herbicide might result in defeat of the original purpose for which it was
used.
Selective herbicidal action was recognized early when it was found that broad-
leaved weeds could be killed by a chemical that did not affect the cereals among
which they were growing. This concept has been greatly refined so that herbicides
are now chosen on the basis of the specific weeds against which they are to be used.
In the early 1950' s new preemergence-type herbicides became available, and in
1956 agronomists at Illinois reported for the first time that "There is a good pos-
sibility that chemicals may largely replace cultural practices in controlling weeds
in the future." The chemicals involved included Simazine, Eptan, Dowpan, Atrazine,
and others, but the real breakthrough came with the appearance of Treflan in 1966.
More than 80 percent of the corn and soybean acreages in Illinois is treated
with herbicides each year- -mostly on a preemergence basis- -as both farmers and agron-
omists continue to look for new herbicides and new methods to accomplish still bet-
ter results.
Illinois staff members who have been actively engaged in various phases of the
weed control program—research, teaching, and extension — include John J. Pieper,
Lloyd V. Sherwood, R. F. Fuelleman, Fred W. Slife, George E. McKibben, Ellery L.
Knake, Marshal D. McGlamery, and Loyd M. Wax.
207
WHEELCHAIR KITCHENS
The University of Illinois has long been interested in finding ways to ease the pro-
blems of handicapped persons, in particular those who are confined to wheelchairs.
One such project carried out in the Department of Home Economics involved space re-
quirements for wheelchairs, dimensions and design of kitchen equipment of various
kinds, and kitchen arrangements adapted to wheelchair use.
Working with 26 women volunteers, all of whom were confined to wheelchairs,
Helen McCullough and Mary Farnham conducted a series of tests to determine suitable
dimensions and the best use of space for carrying out ordinary kitchen activities
from a sitting position in a wheelchair.
Measurements were made of the subjects in their chairs, space requirements for
maneuvering the chair, vertical and horizontal reaches, comfortable working heights,
and necessary clearances for work areas. Kitchen and laundry appliances and cabi-
nets of various designs were then tested for accessibility and ease of operation.
Finally, three complete kitchen arrangements were tested after they had been set up
in conformity with the dimensions obtained in the previous tests.
The chief variations from standard kitchen equipment were in the height of
sinks, surface cooking units, and work counters, and in the need for ample knee
space, at least 24 inches wide, under these units.
A good height for sinks and surface cooking units was found to be 30 to 32 in-
ches. Sink drains at the back of the bowls provided maximum clearance for the knees.
A one-hand mixing faucet proved most convenient.
Surface cooking units were most satisfactory when placed at the front of the
counter, with all controls easily accessible, preferably in the front panel. The
most-used shelf in the oven was most convenient when at the same height as the coun-
ter, to facilitate sliding filled pans and casseroles in and out.
An awning- type window above the sink, if provided with roto-lock hardware, could
be reached and operated from a sitting position.
Front-opening appliances — refrigerators, dishwashers, etc. --were preferred, and
side-hinged doors on such items were most convenient. This was true also of laun-
dry equipment.
Some of the recommended measurements were:
Reach to high shelves (maximum) 52 inches
Height of mix counter, with hand or
electric mixer 27 inches
Height of mix counter with removable
indented bowls 30-32 inches
Height of sink or range 30-32 inches
Height of knee clearance (minimum) 24 inches
Width of knee clearance (minimum) 24 inches
208
The subjects found each of the three basic kitchen arrangements easy to use,
but individual tastes varied as to details. The U kitchen is compact but has two
corners, which present a problem of access from wheelchairs. The L kitchen has
more free open space but also requires more travel. The corridor arrangement, with
5 feet between cabinets or appliances opposite each other, avoids these problems and
has two continuous counters that are convenient for sliding some objects instead of
carrying them in a wheelchair. Sketch plans for each type of kitchen can be found
in Extension Circular 841.
209
ZOONOSES RESEARCH CENTER
Zoonotic diseases — those readily transmissible from animals to man--are of major im-
portance to human health because their causative agents usually have a potential
for emergence and recession that is not often true of other classes of infectious
diseases. Furthermore, these maladies often involve a number of zoologically un-
related host species. Acute infectious encephalitides, for example, embrace such
diverse hosts as man, horse, mules, birds, reptiles, and mosquitoes.
In 1963 C.A. Brandly and L.D. Fothergill of the College of Veterinary Medicine
and the Experiment Station reported at the 17th World Veterinary Congress concern-
ing the establishment at the University of Illinois of a center for zoonoses research,
the only establishment on the North American continent devoted exclusively to this
field of research. The mission of the center is to investigate the emergence and
recession of zoonotic diseases through a multidisciplinary approach.
Initially, the Dixon Springs Experiment Station (now the Dixon Springs Agri-
cultural Center) in southern Illinois was chosen for intensive field study. A zoo-
notic observational network involving human and animal populations was established,
with the arbo viruses receiving special attention. St. Louis encephalitis was cho-
sen for particular study as it first emerged and then receded in that area.
210
'V
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